- % CC-S3 **- " ' 
C'< C C C r c, 
■< -''X C <C ' c 

cicc c c ' c 

cc .cc cc^ c 

< "c. c c c «i c 

cc cc < - c 

<3C< c cc cc 

<?;C< CCC '-" c 

. ccvc: c <c cc 

CC * CC c cc 



c etc 
C.CXC« 



C 



' is 

. 

C<« C' 
c « 

cc. c 

C re « 



' CC 

• - *'< . :& 
*c « 

c cc 

LC.«EESL 



C 

cr tc.'c 



I CL : « «C<-C • 

; C w cCt <ML < 
CC< C c 

CC'C^r i c 

CLC1< C<C'C C 

CKTccCcO C C< 

cc cc(5 c c 



ccc c c 

ClC Cc ■ c 



C C 



cc cc> c 



:V/.CCuX «HL 
~TCMC ««: 

cc «sc 

c ^cc c <oc 
<C( cc 
cccc cc: 
x< cc 

it CLCC CC 
C s CLCCC CC 

(i cere cc 

c c •■.<<« c cc. 

Cc 'C^CC 
cc <'Cec«. 

c-c ccc c 

CC 'Ccc c 

CC cscc 

cc CCCC 



cccocl 



CZc-.CCC" 

CCC 

= CC 

j. CiC 
& etc 

==_ CC 

- cc; 



_ cc 

*~. «c 

i. cc 

■. cc 
C cc 

c c.c 

Ccc 

c cc 

<C 1 <C 

C «£ 



cc 

C C 

CC 

<3 C. 

cx: 

en c 
CE C 
CC 



cc c 

ccc : 

«C« CC 

C§ cc 



CCC«p. 
CCC«S1 

dc*f 
ccc 

: exc 

.. CC 

.: cct 
_ c» 

: c c <c 

c. ccc 
ccec 

« ccccr 
ccc 

CCd 



C cc i <• 

eccsc 

X5CC 

- ; ,C5:cc .C C 

C CC C C 

C CC C C 

c cc C C 

c cc c < 

C <3C C < 

■ aC'i <3C c < 

.-.i.C'c ?3C; C ■ 
Cm car <Z 



Cc <C' c 

2ri ^3t c < 

13 cCC c ( 
•C OC c c 

.■•;ted- '- *<C C C 
- ,CC/-OC c C 

^^ « Si 



C CI < 

c c, C< 

cc< -j c 

< <x c 

cc<c_ 

cc <- 

CC-< e 

"cc.ee 

■ CCicc 
CC c c 

CC'CC 

■ cc cc 

« CC'CC 
cccc 

_ " c < 
.£ CLC 



CCC« c 

C:C_C C 

■ c c c c 

ccccc 

TjCcc C 



CC 

cc 
Cc 

CC 



C ccc 

Cc C<1 C 
Cc cc C 

crccc 

CCCCC 

CC.C'r" <L 
CCCCC 

ccccc 



'-CCCI 

: c cc 
c -c c c 

C '<Cc< 
cc, cc 

5c.' '-cc 

C< c_ -c 



clC^^cc:, cxcc 

*^C'cC C < c < 
JVCC <SCCC 



ccc 
ccc 



3 C' 

§JC c 



C ;r )C «ic 



cc • ' 

ii.c^: 
^ c<t 
_ ccc 

J Co<I - 
C i ■ 
C "<C 

C'C 

cc 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

-^•^ , fee- E 2_ 

PRESENTED BY 



C C <Ci 

C C «3 

C C <3 

<C<c c <• 

CC2c,C.:. <? 
cfcx c . <- 

CC^CC c 

• ^ 

... cx« 



CcC 

C_ cr 

C ( c 

c: "c < c 

cc 



UNITED STATES OE AMERIGA'. 



ccc"<acr c c -<c cc 



. cc c 
C c C 



<-c;, : «c ccc.' " <: 
. <sc«:: « 

_ <x:c d_ 

_ <s:;c ;-. c 
__ 02C <— 

; cr ccc c 

r.-c.c <a?c 

XT Ot?:C 
- 'dEC 

J_. 'C^i"c: 
1 cccc- c 

: :: C OCl C 
:cc C«7< C 
.^c: «ac<'c 
:<■ c c^i'-c 

■ c ore C ' 

C €3p.T C 

cr <a:c c •• • 

C90:c 
c <c&:c 

C C3CCTC C... > 

c osne «: < 

f CC 

c cc • c c 

■ cc: c en. c c 

c «3E: « «l cc 
: <c c ^_ cc 
c cc -«c mz cc: 
CCC'C «^_. cc 
ccfc «c: «-. cc 
c cc: <c c cc 



C <C <L 
Ccc CT 



C_V V . 

cr cc c* 

CT'cccC: 
C c <C 

2 CC 

;<c cci 

Co. if- 



c: c x«c c 

C C •. «3f ' < 
C C C CC C 

1 CCCC'CC 
C': C < CC' cc 
C- <L < CC'-CC 
, C^ C C^CC 
C' C ccCvcC 
C C ccc CC 
^ C cccC 
3- Cc ^-c <Z 

C" <L cct; <- C 
C C c C 

<z cc crcc 



<C CCS/: C« 

CCj cc c < 

><c§:.t.cc . c ■ 

ccc cc 

^ CC CC 

C§ CC cc. 



C Cft C '-C ; c 

c c I <7 '-C : < 

-^^ -C c 



Cs«- 

C-C«. 



C", C c<r cc c< 

C7'«- c:<^cc. c 
c.c <lccc •- 



c c 

c < 

C_ C 

c "<: i 
c c 
c -.c. c 
c c c 

C c c 

c <r c 
c c c 



c:c 

«c c 
c c^ 
c c: 



: ccc 

C c c. C. 

Z " <£ c. 

-i c c ■ 
, c c 

<; C 
C r C C 

c f<r: <c c cc 
<ms : ' c«r tfee c_c< 
. -.c: C C' 
: cc. <: C. CTc, 

« C OCT CC c CT <3 

r« C - c c c^ «c 

< cCL cc c ■ 
S C^ ' o. c 
cC c c C 

c c c c 

c c . c 

c: c c 

c c c 

c c c 

C iCc c ,^_ 

^ C C C 

C Cc C C C 

C <Lcc <Z^ C C 

1 cc c c c 



c.'C <c«ogc: Cf< «cr <zl c 
c*. ~cc «c<«c:. cc »ic: c.c 
cr^c cc «;««::•■ <£-c« c*>c 

c 'C cC'C^c" c c <«c- c.c: 
CT.'C ■ C CC ■ <Z" C C C 

C «CE CC <K.^,. C,..«. ^ > ... C :C 

CI ccC, CCC C'c C CC 

<z -m: c 'Ccor c cc^pijc.c 

cc ccc. c: <x ccc 

C '-fC ■ C "CC C < '*C c c- 

7 '~«aer.: c c-c c"'C ccc 

«c ccc c :-cc «3ic 

c cc. ■ <c c c 



C v c c c 

C_cc <C C C 
C cC c" C C 

C cC c, c c 

c c c c c 

C c<. <3 S cc 

^c cc: c cc 

■C CC ccc 



C CC 
C CC 



C cc 
C <C 



cc c cc 

cc c cc 

<c c cc 

CC C. C C 






C C C 



c <L 



CccC.cc-c 5fex€_c 

■ S- c V ^ VVc <c cc 



C CCC 
X <^S 

c CL C C « 



C"5 C CC 

<; \< c < c 

« , ^ cc <- C 

?, , ;- c <: < <_:• 

■> < <& ci > c 

o f <L. C_c< CL 
r . <KL. CI;- ■: C 

Cc <« <3l14 C« 

VI ■ <* C ' <- 

<■<"? " <C CX. C 



CC '<-: 

Cc ( 
^c;cr c 
C C < 

• «C c c 



<L<cC 
CC 

ccc 
c <»sl 



l«lc <l 

:cc. c 

ecc <^ 
c c c 

■c-c c 



^X. C <«C^ 

^~<exc < 



^ ; %> 

c 

C<C ., 

C C C-CCC 
' O'C : S5£' 

■ c<"c_<<tcc 

c^c CCCCC 

xc c<£cc 

? ( <f «..'«■ <"<L: 



3L< c cc >c.. 

r . C_ <T<&'.vCL. 

X cic .:c;< C 

Cl<CC *3£ C 

C<C <LCtC. 

c«c co cC 

. cxCcclC 

CL" '<"smJ£ 

l: «lcS"c:. 

"1 <CT<L1 <S t - 
c C <L7 ^ ( S '- 

' q«L: <LL /o-c>c 

" (3.C «" ^' 

- c<c::<z .<■"* < 



<m <c CMC . 

C^^ <.«.... <L< C" 
' Ci'c ccCiCC ; 
. Cf.c • «Z_<SC< 

; <_c «l <L5 <_ 
CC <•< <3s C. 

■ cL<x <•-«■. C? C 



c<L C. < 

e <C- <j < 

(CC t 



<."•' "«CC C <L_ " 

r-. <:<l c ' 

bee* ^ c 

v?<,C. v 
<_%<.. <-■ ' 

. c. • CCC l C 

c <r<rc < c 

C c C V ■ C«.C ( 

cvC< -^'^ < 

<:<TCC ' «?v'C«I v 



r "^ <Cv CC 



<t«y «_^iL 5«r<5 






C C 

c< : c: 



CjCCC 



- •-<? eCT'CT c 

CL <*L- C <!"-■■ 
<C <*L^ CL ( 

c, ^^ 



cccc 

c <L c < cr. 

' ccCc 

.. <r.cicc 

<C C <L < 

_j^-c-c:x. 
<CjS3Cc: 
a c c <r 

c^x:c___<cr 
t c cl.c: 

<k '■■<■- <z <z 

<Z' C <L 



^ d <LL <Lt 

CL_ Co CLTCT 

■c m cc 



«l<2:cc_. . 

- cc <;:<L_ 
c <?cC. 
<■ <jL-i-.:C2:. 

<dcc 

CC CCL, 

:fcr>C 

GCC, 

iC3L cC 

«T"^ CCZ 

«t<i"CC 

<(. c .< 

cccC 

CJ-CC 



c <LTC< C <: 

- l - C<C:.CC 

- Xc KLCi'C d 

■ r c: tzzci C""d 

.•'<■ c.v<r;Ci-c<i 
c c .<: c cc 

■ cc:cr c <T 

" ^ ;<L C'< C_ <L 

> cc c «r 
jc c c<r 

c <: c'C-cr.- 
c c cc 

C LC CL«LL' 

, -T. " Clr^ C <LL - 

<■ c ;:<:■■., cc 

<-«LL:Cfl C CL < 



08. i C<C' 

<c C . 
«? c 



c c^ 

C:<CLC 
C? •« ex 
cc^ ex 



, «src < jcl<? 

<- " v ■• >>'/: 
XO: CjCtC 

<i C C C CL 

CXX 

re c c c 
C cl c 
i < ■ t . <: c2 c. 
rcc c c cl 

<L CL S 
c CLLC; CL 
C CL C I 



c«X<L 

ocx c 



<n<:c 
C Cc 

<r ex- 

C Cc 



occ - 

OCX CL 



<C C <L Cj 

<sc^c c c 

<CC C C3 

<c:c .x cl 

^CL CC 

CCC CX 
«r < < <-" 



,.'C.uC c 

y«c c- 

-. r «C"CX.' 

C C 'CCC: 

S d occ 

<x c c c < 

c c« c: c Cv 
C c c c i 

C C C C c 

C c c c c 

■ C . CL- C C cv 

CCCC^c 

C c c c < 
• C.CC". C c< 

C CC C cc 

cccc <c 
<r cc c cc 



% CC GS cc 

r; < c c 
^ c c c 

_ C._ C CL 
^J.rf .<: C. 

xc crc 

LCO C X- 
CTC^ C C 
C CX C C 

CCCC C.L 
C C«SP c c < 

cc c c 
cc c c 

c c c cx 

CCr CCl" 

l: c c c: 
c c c 



c c<<: ; CO cc c 
C" <X*CL d c cc 

c; cc;. c c c c 

C CC CR c C 
C CCi CC c c 
C c^ C c 



c c c 

s x I 

c c c 
c c c 

C s CL C 

c cc 

<L C «C 

c c d 

c c C 

C cc 

si 

vi < e 



on 



wii^ 



BOLTON 






Fourth of July, 



1876. 






ADDRESS 



DELIVERED IX THE 



FIRST PARISH CHURCH IN BOLTON 

JULY 4th, 1876, 



AT THE 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE ANNIVERSARY OF 

AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE; AND ALSO IN 

OBSERVANCE OF THE 

138th Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town: 



V 

By RICHARD S. EDES. 



TOGETHER WITH OTHER PROCEEDINGS RELATING TO 
THE SAME OCCASION, 



WITH AN APPENDIX 




CLINTON : 
PRINTED BY W. J. COULTER, COURANT OFFICE. 

1877. 






INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



At a legal meeting of the Town of Bolton, held on Monday, April 
3d, 1876, it was voted that a committee of five be appointed by the Chair 
to make arrangements for a Centennial Celebration on the 4th of July, 
1876; said arrangements to be without expense to the town. 

The Moderator appointed as members of this committee : N. P. Oil- 
man, R. S. Edes, B. A. Edwards, N. A. Newton, and F. E. Whit- 
comb. They . subsequently organized by choosing N. P. Oilman as 
Chairman, B. A. Edwards as Secretary, N. A. Newton as Treasurer, and 
F. E. Whitcomb as Soliciting Committee. (The expenses *of the cele- 
bration, amounting to about one hundred and fifty dollars, were met by 
a general subscription.) 

At a town meeting held June 26th, Roswell Barrett, J. D. Hurl- 
but, and Paul Whitcomb were added to the committee. Enoch C. 
Pierce, Sergt. Co. F, 13th Regt. Mass. Vols., was chosen Chief Mar- 
shal, and S. F. Edwards, Chief Decorator. 

The exercises of the Fourth were held in the meeting-house of the 
First Congregational Church, at ten o'clock A. M. After the performance 
by the Hudson Brass Band of suitable music, the President of the Day 
made a brief opening address, in substance as follows : 

Fellow Citizens : — We meet here to celebrate the festival of our na- 
tion's birthday. All over our land Americans are today observing the one 
hundreth anniversary of our country's life. But we are mindful here of a 
double duty. Our great republic is made up of many little republics ; 
because of these the nation came into existence. The New England town- 
ship paved the way for the independence of the whole country in such a 
degree that " in 1650 the Republic was already virtually established." Of 
one of these small democracies we now observe, with but a few day's de- 
lay, the one hundred and thirty-eighth anniversary. The founders of this 
town, as well as all who built this nation, were' men of a true religious 
faith. " Our civilization," De Tocqueville has well said, " is the result of 
two distinct elements, which in other places have been in frequent hostility, 
but here in America have been admirably incorporated and combined with 
each other, the spirit of religion and the spirit of liberty." Our Puritan 
forefathers did not "make religion twelve and the world thirteen." Re- 
membering them, remembering the motto on their pine-tree flag, remem- 
bering the fortunes of a hundred years, we most fitly open our' exercises 
today with an "appeal to Heaven." 

Prayer was then offered by the Rev. Thomas T. Stone, D! D., and 
the American Hymn sung by a select choir. "That noble Declaration, 



which, written in words whose memory can never perish, ought to be 
hung up in the nursery of every king and blazoned on the porch of 
every royal palace," was read by Rev. 13. A. Edwards, and the Star 
Spangled Banner sung by children from one of the public schools. 
Introducing the Orator of the Day, the President said: 

Fellow Citizens : — The Tree of Liberty under which we gratefully 
gather, whose leaves are for " the healing of the nation," has many roots 
and rootlets. Here among these hills of Bolton, one rootlet fastened 
itself in the soil, to draw from it sap and sustenance for the parent trunk. 
In a fertile earth, beneath a kindly sky, the little root did its necessary 
helpful work. Sustained by it and by a thousand like it, the tree grew 
and flourished. We are fortunate in having among us a fellow-citizen, 
whom your committee unanimously chose to address you today, as the 
fittest person to describe the course of life through which this Bolton 
rootlet of the American Tree of Liberty has passed." 

The Address followed. Upon its conclusion, and after the singing 
of Hail Columbia by the choir, and of America by the audience, the 
benediction was given by Rev. J. W. Chickering, D. D., a former pas- 
tar of the Hillside Church in Bolton. 

The dinner was laid on tables erected under the trees in front of the 
church. After due attention had been paid to " the physical basis of life," 
the chairman called the company to order with a few remarks, and then 
proceeded to call upon gentlemen present to respond to appropriate senti- 
ments. Responses were made by Rev. Mr. Edes, for Lancaster; by Rev. 
Mr. Houghton, for Berlin; by J. T. Joslin, Esq., for Hudson; by A. 
R. Powers, Esq., for Bolton ; by Rev. Dr. Chickering, for the churches ; 
by Rev. Mr. Edwards, for the schools: by Dr. Robert T. Edes, of 
Boston, for the United States Navy; and by F. E. WHITCOMB, Esq., for 
the Farmers' Club. 

Letters were received, and the majority of them read during the after- 
dinner exercises, from Hon. George Bancroft, Thos. Wentworth 
Higginson, Waldo Higginson, Br. Gen. Thos. Sherwin, Rev. Geo. W. 
Hosmer, D. D., Rev. Geo. S. Ball, Rev. E. C. L. Brown, Rev. F. L. 
Hosmer, and Hon. William Stone, Attorney-General of South Carolina. 

Fireworks and a concert on the Common closed this highly-successful 
celebration of the birthday of the town and the nation. 

At the annual meeting of the town, held March 5th, 1877, it was 

Voted, To raise and appropriate for printing the address delivered on 
the Centennial Celebration, July 4th, 1876, together with the other pro- 
ceedings connected with said celebration, the sum of one hundred dollars. 

Voted, That every family in town receive one copy of such pamphlet 
gratis. 

Voted, To send one copy to every non-resident tax-payer. 

In compliance with this vote, the Address is now presented by the 
committee to the citizens of the town. 



ADDR ESS 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: — 

Let us begin by taking for granted the main facts of 
history, down to the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers at Ply- 
mouth, and down to a period more than a century later. 
Let us observe at once, that at the times and in the place 
to which our attention must be turned to-day, those who 
went before us, even as were those who went before them, 
and as those on the stage now, were "members one of 
another," catching each others* thoughts, imitating each 
others* examples, influencing each others' conduct — not 
only as so many individuals, but as communities, as towns, 
and in other large ways. That ideas circulate like the 
blood, probably all will admit. General history is a com- 
mon multiple, to which many local histories may contribute ; 
and given a general product, and some of its determined 
factors, the others, comprised in any particular local mem- 
ories or traditions, are easily to be ascertained. 

Or, to express our "thought in another way, if general 
history present the larger action of the piece, the chief 
actors in the drama ; local history may furnish the side 
lights, and the characters which, though called subordi- 
nate, may be none the less necessary to the completeness 
of the whole, to the full working out of the plot. Or, 
leaving the abstract, and coming into the concrete, to know 
New England you must know those "little democracies," 
its towns ; and so if you would study to advantage the his- 
tory of any one town, it may be well to start with some 
general ideas of the whole of which it forms a fractional 
part. 



Impressed with thoughts such as these, which it is need- 
less to expand, I ask you to go back with me for a brief 
while, to a little more than a century and a quarter ago, 
to A. D. 1738, viz. to the time when Bolton become an 
independent township, — while I sketch, in a very general 
way, a picture of the prevailing condition of things as it was 
in the small country towns of Massachusetts Ba}'. 

The country hereabouts had been becoming settled in a 
sort for a little more than a century : — slowly opening from 
an utter wilderness inhabited only by savages and wild 
beasts, and spreading into communities having some of the 
ruder arts of life, and characterized by habits of law and 
order. But only here and there had clearings been made 
in the woods, and settlements started. After many con- 
fli6ts with them, many sackings, burnings and massacres 
suffered from them — in which this town then a portion of 
Lancaster suffered with the rest — the aboriginal inhabit- 
ants were still far from being altogether banished or exter- 
minated. [Appendix, A]. They lingered about in va- 
rious localities ; according to their nomadic habits, .found 
their way from place to place ; had special seats assigned 
them whenever — which was but seldom — they wandered of 
a Sunday into the houses of worship ; and were quite often 
to be seen by the kitchen hearth as the housewife cooked 
her dinner, or sitting by the fire while her baby slumbered 
in the cradle. Though much enfeebled, in broken rem- 
nants, consumed under the combined effects of their own 
improvident habits, wide-spreading pestilences and epi- 
demics, and the "fire water" introduced among them by 
the whites, the Indians were slowly wasting away before 
the march of civilization, like the proud forests around 
them, once all their own. 

The native animals, hardly a grade lower in the scale 
than the savages — the wolves, the bears, the wild cats, the 
deer — continued to inhabit the woods and the fields, as the 
salmon and shad did the streams. Their numbers were so 



large as to keep the farmer on the alert to protect his flocks 
and herds, and in his leisure hours, whenever he could find 
or make them, to furnish him with the exciting, and fre- 
quently dangerous, pleasures of the chase. If the itch of 
office overcame him, and he would act for the protection 
of the friendly and valuable creatures, or for the extermi- 
nation of the hostile ones, he might, as deer or fish reeve, 
or in some similar capacity, as forerunner of the modern 
field-driver or hog-reeve, assume a badge of dignity among 
the worthies of the borough, or exercise his forensic powers 
before the town meeting in calling aloud to arms, to arms — 
not to be sure against a human foe, but against another, of 
which some of us learnt in the earlv Latin exercise k ' tristc 
lupus stabutis." 

As to the roads of those times, what were they? Struct- 
ures of the rudest engineering, and hardly better than to 
be compared with the paths made by the moose in the win- 
ter's snow, or by the beaver to the side of his dam ; scarcely 
more than cow or sheep paths through the woods, and wan- 
dering over hill and dale, bog and plain, in the strangest 
fashion. Mails, daily, weekly, or even monthly there were 
none ; though messengers on horseback with saddle bags, 
at irregular intervals wide apart, sometimes found their 
way over the rough and lonely byways, and penetrated 
from settlement to settlement. Newspapers — if such ex- 
isted of any but the most diminutive proportions and all but 
utter poverty of news — were hardly to be seen even in the 
larger towns; and back here in the interior settlements must 
have been the rarest of all rare birds. [Appendix, B] . Very 
few comparatively — in the times we are adverting to, in 
1738 — could make out to read, fewer still to write. As 
the saw mill driven by water and superseding the saw-pit 
and hand sawyer-labor, was coming slowly into use, dwell- 
ing houses regularlv timbered, boarded, clapboarded and 
shingled, were just beginning to be built — of the material 
so abundantly at hand : but a house with proper casements 



and with windows glazed throughout was to be found only 
in the larger towns and among the richest of the inhabitants. 
Franklin, though born, was not as vet signalized by chim- 
nies that would carry smoke ; nor Rumford to be reckoned 
among the household gods by the production of apparatus 
that would heat apartments throughout in cold weather. 
The parlor of a New England house — if any such apart- 
ment existed — presented every variety of temperature from 
torrid to frigid, and as to its chambers they were but little 
if anv better in winter time than ice-houses. At certain 
seasons of the year as one approached any house of the pe- 
riod, he would hear the buzz and rattle of the spinning 
wheel or the loom ; the wife with her assistants spinning 
and weaving the wool and the flax which the husband 
raised ; and both they and their children clad in the home- 
spun which had been woven either at their own home or 
in that of some neighbor. 

Vehicles for domestic use were hardly known, even at a 
much later period ; and when Sunday came, both husband 
and wife mounted the same horse, he in the saddle, she on 
the pillion behind him, with arm lovingly around his waist, 
rode off together (some four, five, six, or eight miles as the 
case might be) to meeting : rode, let us sav, from what is 
now Hudson, then a part of Bolton, to what is now Lan- 
caster, Old Common; — though not as now, remember, by 
a direct road through the centre of the town but by the 
"Bay road'' as it was then and years afterwards called, a 
winding path which carried them upon Wattoquottoc Hill. 
[Appendix, C]. 

And as to the churches of that day — no that won't do — 
the "meeting-houses," what rude structures they were ! how 
far removed from the luxurious, painted, carpeted, cushioned, 
warmed, "dimly-religious lighted" structures to which we 
now resort! oftentimes without plastering on the inside, 
oftentimes without pews, and with rough hewn boards for 
seats, frequently used for shelter by the passing traveller, 



or by the cattle when exposed to the violence of one of our 
autumnal or wintry storms: — no stoves or furnaces for 
heating — the winds of heaven admitted freely through rat- 
tling- windows, and manv a crack and crevice. And yet, 
for all that, thev were doubtless as much "houses of God*' 
and "gates of heaven," and furnished as friendly a "shadow 
of a rock in a weary land" as any of our more stately and 
adorned modern edifices : and what was wanting in the tem- 
perature of the surrounding air was made up in the warmth 
of heart found within the bosoms of the worshippers. 

Not always though, as truth compels the cautious and 
impartial historian to add. For it would sometimes hap- 
pen then, even as in these degenerate times, that people 
would fall asleep, during the services. Paterfamilias, over- 
come bv week-dav labors in the haying-field, or wearied 
bv his exercises on hard-trotting Dobbin, as in the sharp 
winter's air he rode to meeting with his wife on the pillion 
behind him, would sometimes, as seventeenthly or nine- 
teenthlv was under discussion, find his eyes getting heavy, 
and — sad to state — at length be caught napping, it might 
be even snoring. Or mav be, exhausted from the spinning 
wheel or the loom, and from being up nearly all night be- 
fore with little Tommy in pangs of colic from having eaten 
green apples, materfamilias would be seen with her head 
bobbing about in a strange fashion from side to side. Or, 
perchance, 'foresaid Tom, on the sly, in concert with sister 
Pollv, would be caught catching Mies, or building houses 
with the hymn-books — for "boys would be boys" in those 
davs, even as men and women were human then as now — 
well, whenever anv of these things happened, what fol- 
lowed? The offenders brought down on themselves the 
rod of an officer, called a tithing man. often to be found in 
meeting-houses of the dav. an officer armed with fearful 
powers, and a no less fearful weapon to enforce them, to 
wit, a pole or wand some five or six feet in length, with 
which in feline fashion he stole about the house from seat 



to seat, arousing one here, touching up another there, and 
careful to see that every one was kept attentive, and that 
the preacher's discourse, was not wasted on empty air or 
drowsy ears. Another of his functions was to stop travel- 
lers passing on the highway on Sundays and question them 
as to whether they were journeying on works of necessity 
or mercy : if not, to detain them till after sundown, or till 
the sabbath was considered passed. [Appendix, D]. 

The parson of those times, who shall worthily describe 
him? — perhaps the greatest man of all, not even "the 
'Squire" excepted, — with his awe-inspiring wig, and no 
less overwhelming cocked hat, smalls, and cane ! And 
the Sunday services, too, with their sermons extending to 
seventeenthlies or twentiethlies, and judged of, in the order 
of merit, largely by their length ; — with prayers of equally 
portentous extent : — all sat and stood through in stove- 
less houses in winter, in blindless ones in summer. Who 
shall attempt — save a Mrs. Stowe — to portray in what 
spirit of martyrdom and long suffering the}' were endured ! 

Imagine a New England winter as it was one hundred 
and thirty-eight or one hundred and fifty years ago ! All 
that should go into the picture time will not allow me so 
much as to touch. The solitude, the utter sequestration of 
the little clearing in the woods ! the arctic cold out o' doors, 
the great roaring tire of logs in the wide-throated chimney 
within, the family huddling around it, protected from 
draughts of air as much as could be by the huge settle ; 
the horses and cows outside the house, without shelter 
trembling in the keen blast: — in spring, even at a much 
later period than this, when barns of some sort were pro- 
vided for them, so weak from eating poor swale hay that 
they could not lift themselves to their feet without help. Im- 
agine the feelings of the housewife, when as she was cooking 
her noontide meal, or in the early dusk preparing the sup- 
per for her husband when he should return exhausted from 
labors in the woods, she saw steal in, instead of him, a band 



of drunken Indians ; and was compelled, in terror of her 
life, to give them food, or to minister to their thirst for the 
dreadful " fire-water " which would make them still more 
utterly savage and reckless ! Imagine this, and many more 
particulars bv which this general sketch might be extended, 
and our idea of the times made more complete ; but I must 
remember what is before us, and hasten to strike into that 
local history to which what has been advanced is pre- 
paratory. 

In general, such was the Massachusetts of 1738 in its 
more retired portions : such a sketch of the condition of 
almost any one of her small towns : such was Bolton. 
Worcester was hardly a hamlet, with a few straggling 
houses and scarcely no trade ; and Boston, now the great 
metropolitan city of all New England, with palatial ware- 
houses and numerous lines of travel and modes of industrv 
and schools of art, but a small trading village so far re- 
moved from the ways and thoughts of the great world as 
to be as much out of mind as it was out of sight ! [Ap- 
pendix, E], 

But now observe one most important aspect of affairs. 
Rough, unsightly, hardly reclaimed from the wilderness 
as the. whole country was, ignorant as the people in mam- 
respects, rude as were their lives, one lesson was being 
most thoroughly learned ; learned, doubtless, as it has 
been learned by no other people on the face of the earth — 
the lesson namely of self-reliance, of self-government. Of 
the hardy Anglo-Saxon stock, or they would not have been 
here ; deeply imbued in the religious faith in its severest 
form of their old home in England ; bringing with them 
across the seas the heroic virtues of their English and Pu- 
ritan ancestry, but cut off by a wide and stormy ocean from 
all intimate connexion with the "mother countrv " (or the 
"fathcr-\i\n<\" as now in German fashion we have learnt to 
say) ; thrown on their own resources ; forced bv circum- 
stances to think, to act, to legislate for themselves; — our 



sturdy forefathers were learning in the school of hardship 
to stand alone, beginning to throw off many of the hamper- 
ing ways of worship to rank, of blind observance of custom 
which would have clung to them doubtless if they had staid 
at the old home: learning many of the mysteries of that 
great art of government which heretofore was supposed to 
be entrusted to the hands of a heaven-born few : and to be 
exercised only by heads which had received a special unc- 
tion from above. Happy then the wilds which brought 
them this favored knowledge ! Blessed the calamities, the 
hardships, the rough and unattractive lives which conveyed 
to them and their descendants the glorious revelation from 
which such mighty results were to come. 

I must not dwell on such points tempting as they may be. 
Sufficient if we observe them in passing: I must come, 
without delay, to what more particularly concerns us as 
citizens or friends of this particular town. 

About the time to which we have been adverting, about 
A. D. 1738, or a little before, the inhabitants of the East 
Precinct of Lancaster were beginning to feel that the 
clothes of early childhood were rather too tight a fit, and 
could be patched and extended no more : that they must 
have an entirely new suit : that they could no longer, every 
first day of the week, take the winding "Bay road" over 
Wattoquottoc hill to attend meeting on Lancaster Old Com- 
mon (where the meeting-house then stood) : — so they com- 
menced the movements of secession, began the work which 
Berlin and Hudson afterwards repeated towards Bolton. 
But why should I tell the story for them, when they are so 
well able to tell it for themselves? Here. then. I open 
their record-book, and copy portions of the statements I 
find there. Would that I could copy them in a hand-writ- 
ing as splendid as that of Jacob Houghton their first town 
clerk — a hand-writing which if it were reproduced in our 
modern Houghton School in competition for a prize would 
surely carry off the palm ! 



A GRANT OF THE TOWNSHIP OF HOLTON. 



Whereas the Southeasterly part of the town of Lancaster, is compe- 
tently filled with inhabitants who labour under great difficulty by reason 
they live very remote from the place of public worship, in said town ; and 
having addressed this court that they may be set oft, a distinct and sepa- 
rate township, whereunto the inhabitants of said town by their vote have 
manifested their consent : — He it therefore enacted by his Excellency the 
Governour, Council, and Representatives in General Court assembled and 
by the authority of the same,- — 

That the easterly part of the town of Lancaster lie and hereby is set off 
from said town of Lancaster and erected into a separate and distinct town- 
ship by the name of Bolton [Appendix. F], according to the following 
boundaries, viz : Northeasterly upon Harvard, Easterly upon Stow. South- 
easterly upon Marlborough, Southerly upon Westborough, and Westerly 
upon Lancaster, By a line running near a South and North point parallel 
with the West line of said township of Lancaster at four miles distance 
therefrom. Agreeable to a vote of the said town passed the first day of 
March. 1735. 

And that the inhabitants thereof be and hereby are vested with all those 
powers, privileges, immunities that the inhabitants of other towns within 
this province are or ought by law to be vested with. 

Provided that the said town of Bolton shall be liable and subject to the 
payment of their proportionable part of the town of Lancaster's province 
tax. and County tax for the present year, as though they were not by this 
act separated from it. 

In the House of Representatives June 23rd, 1738. 

Ordered that Mr. John Whitney, a principal inhabitant of a new town, 
lately erected out of the town of Lancaster, in the county of Worcester, 
be. and hereby is. fully authorized and impowered. to assemble the Free- 
holders and other qualified voters there, as soon as may be. in some con- 
venient place in said town, in order for their choosing a Town Clerk and 
all other Town Officers, to stand till the Anniversary Meeting of said town 
in March next. 

Sent up for concurrence, 

J. Ouixcev, Speaker, 

In council. June 27. 1738. Read and Concurred, 

J. Willard, Sec'ry. 
Consented to, f. BELCHER. 

Copy examined. Jost.vn WlLLARD, Secr'y. 

Per order, 

Jacod Houghton, Town Clerk. 



IO 



August 14. 1738. 
I have executed the within order according to clue manner and form. 

John Whitxey. 
Per order, 

Jacob Hougktox, Clerk. 

BoLTOX, August, 14th, 1738. 
The inhabitants of said town being met at the house of Mr. Thomas 
Sawyer made choice of James Keyes to be their Moderator. 

1. Jacob Houghton was chosen Town Clerk and Sworn. 

2. They voted to choose rive Select men. 

3. They chose, Jacob Houghton, James Keyes, Henry Houghton. 
John Priest, and Capt. Jonas Houghton, Select men. 

4. They chose David Whitcomb, Constable and he was sworn. 

5. They chose Josiaii Richardson, and William Keyes, Surveyors 
(in the original, spelt, Survairs.) of Highways, and they were sworn. 

James Keyes, Moderator. 
Per order. JACOB HOUGHTON, Clerk. 

Having now got our ship off the stocks and fairly 
launched ; or, as we are speaking of an inland town — in- 
asmuch as we have harnessed up our team, oiled the wheels, 
taken on the load, and started for the journey ; — remark- 
ills' the while, what a lono- stretch of road lies between us 
and the terminus of our travel, we see it will not do to em- 
ploy ox, or even horse-power, but must spring into a sort 
of locomotive balloon, or some other flying machine, and 
skim along with it as if, high upborne in air, we were scud- 
ding with the clouds over the face of a continent. As, in 
the brief time allowed me for so long a work, to men- 
tion names or describe individuals connected with important 
proceedings, or at any rate many of them, will be out of 
the question ; or to. verify statements by giving dates, or 
making extracts from the books will be equally so, I shall 
not often make the attempt, happy if I can but so much as 
touch the more significant eras and events. [Appendix G] . 

Bolton, then, is now started as a separate township ; and 
after its primary meeting for organization, its first care was 
to set about building a meeting-house (town and parish in 
those days were pretty much the same thing, or, in other 



II 



words, the town was the municipality considered in its civil 
and political aspect, while the parish was the same munici- 
pality in its relations with religious faith and ecclesiastical 
organization). 

It would take much more time than you would be willing 
to allow to attempt anything like a full account of the meet- 
ings, the considerings, the reconsiderings, the votes, the 
counter votes, to which the movement gave rise. Human 
nature was not so different then from what it is today : or 
from what it was in the great Savior's day ; nor were the 
town meetings of one hundred and thirty years ago so un- 
like those of A. D. 1876 ; nor the then young town of 
Bolton so dissimilar from its modern district of No. 8, as it 
was a few weeks ago, No. 2, as it is now in the present 
year of grace. It is enough then to say, that while on the 
question of building a new meeting-house there was no dis- 
pute, on the point where it should stand there was much 
diversity of opinion and feeling ; one party seeming to 
think that only on this mountain — this little knoll — could 
the Father be worshipped, while another party, with equal 
earnestness, contended that solely at some small Jerusalem, 
a trifle nearer home, ought men to worship. The question 
was purely one relating to locality, and had no reference 
whatever to matters involving religious doctrine or ob- 
servance. 

Human strifes, however, like all other things human, 
must have an end ; so that at length it was settled where 
the new structure should be placed, viz. : just this side of 
where now runs (runs so that all may read) our now nour- 
ishing Lancaster R. R. : just this side of where quite 
recentlv stood our old school-house No. 1, where now 
stands the picturesque station-house of the railroad afore- 
said, so much admired by all travellers to and from the 
Tunnel. [Appendix, H]. 

What sort of a house it was may be inferred from one or 
two votes having reference to it, or discussions concerning 



*2 

it of which we find record. Thus from time to time com- 
mittees were chosen "to seat the meeting-house," as it was 
called, i. e.. to assign seats where different families or indi- 
viduals should sit. Need 1 add that this was most difficult 
and delicate duty to perform : and that the heart-burnings, 
and jealousies, and small griefs that followed were legion. 
Mr. A. felt that his velvet smalls should not have been as- 
signed to that knotty pitch-pine board: Mrs. B., the 
"squire"s. or the store-keeper"s wife, that her last new linen 
dress, fresh from England, the envy and admiration of the 
whole town, should not have been buried in obscurity 
under the gallery stairs : and the widow C. was justly indig- 
nant that her becoming weeds were tucked away on a back 
seat where they would be completely out of sight. So it 
happened that the unhappy committee for seating the house, 
after performing their duty could sometimes not find a seat 
obscure enough nor dark enough wherein to hide their 
diminished heads : but had to " take it," as the boys say, 
all round. "With the most ardent wishes to please and 
endeavors to that end," they but seldom succeeded; too 
often making the sad mistake — not unknown even in these 
virtuous times — of allowing moneybags to preponderate 
over everything else, while a thousand other little vanities, 
male and female, so liable to beset " poor human natur," 
weighed in the balances tlew up highly, and kicked the 
beam. 

Such was "seating of the meeting-house," one indication 
of the times. Another we find in the question, which 
comes up in town meeting, shall the meeting-house be 
plastered on the inside, when it is decided, after some dis- 
cussion, that it shall not be ; and many years after that, we 
get perhaps a larger glimpse of the condition of things, ot 
the occasions which awakened the interest of neople, when, 
on the eve of an approaching ordination, a committee is 
appointed in town meeting to shore up the galleries that 
thev mav be able to withstand the great weight of the 



13 

throng, from far and near, within the compass of thirty 
miles or more, which it is expected on that day will till 
them. 

The old meeting-house to which these remarks have 
reference, stood (some ninety years ago) on the little 
knoll just tins side of the railroad crossing on the Ber- 
lin road : hut at length, about 1790, it began to show 
signs of decay and insecurity ; and the town too began to 
feel ambitious of a larger and more sightly structure. We 
must pass the time with barely a glance. The former pro- 
cess is repeated. Articles appear in the town warrants, 
shall a new meeting-house be built ? and the question is 
discussed forth and back, with much feeling, and no little 
debate is stirred up as to whether one should be built at all, 
and as to where it should stand when built; till at length 
this time all were united in rather a novel and unexpected 
way. On a certain Sunday afternoon in the dog-days, 
when the minister was in the midst of his afternoon's ser- 
mon, and the drowsy members of the congregation had 
composed themselves comfortably to their several naps, a 
tempest which had some time been gathering suddenly 
burst forth in fury, the black clouds hung low overhead, 
the storm pelted, the lightning Hashed, the thunder 
growled, and a powerful gust springing up at the same 
time, so that "the corners of the house were shaken as 
with a rushing mighty wind." the timbers of the edifice 
cracked and groaned like the ribs of a ship when strug- 
gling in the sea and buffetted by the waves. Women 
screamed and fainted, and men and boys, glad of the 
chance, scuttled out at the door. 

The moral effect in the change of feeling, in the recon* 
cilement of discordant views, was all that could be hoped 
for. At the next town meeting, a vote to build a new 
house was procured without difficulty, and thus arose the 
structure in which we are now assembled, finished and 
dedicated in 170,}: remodelled in 1^44; and let me add — 



H 

though repaired at intervals since then, and its whole style 
changed, never re-shingled — nor needing it from that day to 
this. A commentary, this tact, on the solid, faithful work 
of those times — a commentary no less significant on the 
character of the contractors and builders. 

Wishing not to mix up topics, I have passed by one, an 
interesting one, having an important bearing on the future 
history of the town, in order to give it such place by itself 
as time will allow. The settlement of a minister, a matter 
of far more grave import in those times of less light and 
knowledge, but deeper religious sentiment, than now ; an 
event preceded bv examinations and fasts and other observ- 
ances, and enlisting a vastly wider range of sympathetic 
interest than a modern call and settlement. It is a topic 
too large for anything like proper consideration on such an 
occasion as today's, and not suited for a gathering such as 
brings us together. I take it up in its local aspect exclu- 
sively, and shall pass it as rapidly as I can. 

Quite as important as should they build a meeting-house, 
was the question should they settle a minister. In due 
ti m e — after having its appropriate share of town meetings, 
and anxious and sometimes heated discussion, to say noth- 
ing of conferences with neighboring ministers, together 
with fasts and so on, and long hearing of the candidate — 
the question appears to be settled, and* Rev. Mr. Thomas 
Goss (they could hardly, in those days, give the minister 
too many verbal manifestations of respect, or too much su- 
gar in his tea) was invited to take charge of the Bolton 
church and parish. But this, so far as the call was con- 
cerned, though it appears to be the end of the matter, was 
not in point of fact the conclusion. Though at a meeting 
held Dec. 15, 1740, the town had chosen Mr. Thos. Goss 
to be their minister, and had voted that "if the gentleman 
called to the work of the ministry do accept the call, and 
upon examination by the ministers of the gospel do appear 
to be orthodox and qualified for the pastoral office, then to 



have the sum of £380 in old tenour settlement, or that which 
is equivalent to it" [ Appendix, I |, and though it had been 
voted at the same meeting, to give the candidate as a 
"stated sallery, to be paid yearly, £170 in bills of the old 
tenour, to be regulated by Indian corn at 8s. per bushel, and 
Rie at 10s. per bu., and Beef at 6 pence per lb.," it 
seems, nevertheless, even after having got so far, the people 
could not agree, and the proceedings of the meetings just 
referred to were set aside as not legal : and another meet- 
ing was held on the 3d Feb., 1741, at which another period 
of probation was assigned to the candidate : and it was de- 
cided on to hear two other candidates, viz. : Mr. Belcher 
Handcock and Mr. Ebenezer Gay. Meantime Rev. Mr. 
John Prentice of Lancaster, the Rev. Mr. Israel Loring of 
Sudbury, and the Rev. Mr. John Gardner of Stow were 
called in for advice and counsel. The story is a long and 
wearisome one, and I cut it as short as possible. After ad- 
ditional proceedings, mixed up with other affairs, the town 
got so far again on May 19, 1741. as to raise the sum of 
£120 "for a minister's rate," and on June 7th, 1741, at a 
town meeting then held, at which Mr. Jacob Houghton was 
moderator, it was put to vote whether "the town would 
choose by lott for a minister." It passed in the negative ; 
and then it was voted (I quote the exact words) "that Mr. 
Thos. Goss should be the minister of the town by 44 votes 
qualified by law." £400 in bills of old tenour were then 
voted to him for his " encouragement and settlement ;" and 
£180 in bills of old tenour or passable bills of credit for 
"stated sallary." Sept. 1st, 1741, finds the town again in 
town meeting to hear Mr. Thomas Goss, his answer, and 
for other business. After prayers, the business proceeded, 
and Mr. Goss's answer was read and put on tile, a commit- 
tee chosen to wait on Mr. Goss to " know his mind, when he 
inclines to have his ordination," and who should be sent for 
to assist, &c, &c. 

It is to be presumed that Rev. Mr. Goss knew his mind 



i6 



after these long delays, and that the ordination was held in 
due form and observance, with the usual accompaniments 
of feasting and (truth compels me to add) of drinking 
which belonged to the times ; but I find no account of 
them. 

At a town meeting held March 2d, 1742, establishing a 
school for the whole town near the meeting-house ; thank- 
ing Capt. Osburn for what lie had been pleased to do for 
the town ; other votes not to plaster the meeting-house, and 
to choose a committee to divide the pew ground and seat 
the meeting-house ; and to accept and allow certain ac- 
counts for providing for the ordination, we may consider it 
passed at that time, and that the minister has duly entered 
on his course and engaged in his work. 

Years roll on, the seasons come and go ; spring-time af- 
ter spring-time sees the leaves form, and the blossoms 
diffuse their fragrance on the air, and harvest after harvest 
gathered ; these are years, to appearance, of prosperity ; 
new households are formed : children are born and die ; 
and many others, after a protracted sojourn, and lives 
more or less useful, go to their long home — and where 
were they? We take just a hasty general glance, as the 
view dissolves before our eyes ; and we pass on to some- 
thing else. 

Imagine much said that has not been said, and told that 
has not been told ; imagine some thirty years or so 
passed over, and that we are now in A. D. 1770. [Appen- 
dix, J]. A very great change has come over their dream 
in this town and every town throughout the land — in New 
England and in all the original colonies. Though they 
know it not, they are in the birth-throes of a nation ; they 
are preparing to drop — ripe or unripe — from the parent 
stem. The deeper woes of unhappy Boston have begun, 
her committee of correspondence are in communication 
with sister towns throughout the province and country ; 
and they, for the most part, are in earnest sympathy with 
her. 



'/ 

Iii the endeavor to keep topics distinct, and disentangled 
from political questions and agitations, however much 
mixed up as for years and years afterwards they were 
in point of faet, I shall for a moment continue on this 
purely local affair, till it can properly be dismissed. In 
the town records man)- a page is given to it. I desire to 
dispose of it in as many lines. 

" Patriot " and " Tory " were not then recognized as dis- 
tinct terms, as they were afterwards, nor were persons so 
designated arrayed the one against the other. But the dis- 
turbances, the feelings, the political events had begun out 
of which were evolved the two great parties which after- 
> wards might be distinguished by those words. 

The minister whose coming was prepared for with so 
much elaboration, with such taking of counsel, with prayers 
and fastings, and who was received with such large cordi- 
ality, had lost his hold upon the good will and support of 
most of his people ; lost it, said his enemies, because the 
spiritual influence by which he was moved was supposed 
to come more from the still than from the heavenly spheres ; 
lost it, said his friends, because the views he took and 
maintained of ministerial, as well as of royal, prerogative, 
were entirely unsuited to the temper of the times, and the 
great movement which was everywhere in the air. What 
measure of truth they either of them had in the allegations 
made on either side, we will not now take upon us to de- 
cide. Sufficient to say the minister was jealously watched ; 
occasions of offence and stones of stumbling, and enough 
of them, were speedily discovered (as at such times they 
generally are) ; and then commenced a quarrel and a con- 
troversy which lasted tor years, and left its impress on the 
affairs of the town, on the generations born and to be born. 
Meeting after meeting was held, council after council 
called (live in all ), pamphlet written in answer to pamphlet, 
lawsuits instituted, committees chosen to defend, moneys 
to pay expenses voted ; feelings became deeply embittered, 



i8 

fathers against sons, mothers-in-law against daughters-in- 
law, families separated from families. But after a while 
the dismission of the minister, so obnoxious to a majority 
of the society, is procured, and another minister. Rev. John 
Wallev, duly installed in his plaee. This event, so far 
from pouring oil on the troubled waters, rather stirred them 
to redoubled commotion. The town is divided now, not 
onlv into Whig and Tory, but into Gossites and Walley- 
ites. The latter hold the church, have preaching there, 
and consider themselves the legal parish ; while the former 

the Gossites — adhering to the old minister, meet at a 

private house — that now occupied by the Holman family 
— and have preaching there. From 1770 to 1782, along-* 
side with political affairs, mixed up with them continually, 
cropping out every now and then, in the most unexpected 
manner, when one might suppose it all over, the contest 
continued, like an active volcano pouring forth its cloud of 
smoke and rolling down its floods of lava ; and, as a half 
extinct volcano, it continued to burn till 1782, when Mr. 
Goss is dead, and Mr. Walley has taken a dismission, left 
the town, and removed to Roxbury, the home of his family. 

The effects of this controversy, which for the day of it 
was one of the most important in New England, were long 
felt, not onlv here in this, but in all the neighboring towns. 
Time allows only this general sketch. 

When Mr. Goss died, his friends, among whom were the 
neighboring ministers, almost to a man, erected to his mem- 
ory a monument, still standing in our South burying-ground, 
inscribed in classical Latin and laudatory terms, with their 
sense of " the many virtues both private and public " with 
which they supposed him "adorned." When Mr. Walley 
died at Roxbury, a little while afterwards, he left to the 
Bolton parish to which he had ministered a small legacy, 
the good effects of which we still receive in Bibles, and 
other good books, throwing light on the sacred word. The 
divided sections of the town, the Gossites and the Walley- 



.19 

ites, came together again, signed their old covenant, and 
became anew one church and society. With the general 
cessation from strife in the country at large, came the local. 
Discord had done its work : and now Peace reigned in her 
stead ; but not until a plentiful harvest had been gathered 
from the dragon's teeth. Happy if the growth from that 
thistle seed then sown in Bolton soil has been wholly extir- 
pated since! [Appendix, K]. 

As has been stated, matters pertaining to the political 
movements of the period are curiously blended with the 
Goss controversy ; and one unacquainted with subsequent 
history, and taking his ideas from the Bolton books, would 
often be sadly puzzled to tell which of the two were the 
more important. 

That Bolton was strongly on the patriotic side we find 
the evidence conclusive ; that she early mingled in the fray 
we find evidence just as conclusive ; but who of her sons 
actually armed for the conflict and went to the front is more 
difficult to discover. [Appendix, L]. As a general thing 
careful lists do not appear to have been kept in those days ; 
and one searching our books is able to find nowhere a 
record of those who served in the army. An approximate 
list of that description — if ever made — will have to be re- 
covered as it can be from family traditions, and such other 
methods as may be open. [Appendix, L]. 

The first local indication of the great storm which was 
soon to spread over an entire cosmic hemisphere, and bury 
in gloom a continent, we find in such record as the follow- 
ing : "The freeholders and other inhabitants of the town 
of Bolton are required, in his Majesty's nam.', to meet at 
the meeting-house en Monday, 21st of May, 1770," to see 
(among other questions, one of which relates to the Goss 
difficulties) whether they will '"abstain from tea and other 
British Goods imported contrary to the agreement c f the 
merchants of the town of Boston; and to pass such vote 
or votes rel, thereto as the town shall think proper." 



20 

Accordingly, when at the date mentioned a town meeting 
was held, John Whitcomb, Esq., moderator, and on the 
second article the vote was put, " would they abstain from 
tea and other British Goods?'" it passed in the affirmative 
very unanimously ; and Mr. Caleb Richardson, Col. John 
Whitcomb and Capt. Samuel Nourse were chosen a com- 
mittee to prepare a written vote to that effect — doubtless to 
be transmitted to Boston. Their written vote reads : Voted, 
"We highly approve of the condu6t of the merchants of 
the town of Boston respecting the non-importation of Brit- 
ish Goods ; that we will none of us, under any pretence 
whatsoever, purchase one single article (except in a case 
of absolute necessity) of any merchant or trader that has 
imported goods contrary to the agreement of the merchants 
of the town of Boston : and that we shall esteem such pur- 
chasers enemies of their country, and not lit to be employed 
in any business of importance. Voted, further, that we 
will abstain from the use of all foreign teas ourselves, and 
that we will not suffer it to be used in our families, until the 
whole of the late revenue acts are repealed. Voted, 
fourthly, that we will use our utmost endeavors to promote 
industry, frugality, and our own manufactures as the most 
likely means to save our country from slavery, and secure 
a lasting inheritence to our posterity." 

There is more to the same highly interesting effect:* The 
ball is now fairly set a-rolling, and blow after blow is given. 
to it by the sturdy players, till the game is brought to its 
most exciting stage ; and long before they were fully 
aware of the real significance of their acts and of what 
they were about, they found themselves plunged into the 
fearful contest with the mother country, and engaged in 
the tremendous struggle to become a free and independent 
people. 

The votes just quoted, you observe, were passed in i77°- 
Allow four years more to pass, and we iind the town in 
town meeting assembled again in a£tion relative to essen- 



21 



tiallv the same or similar matters. This time a more formal 
report is to be made and a more elaborate document pre- 
pared, and Mr. Caleb Richardson, Col. John Whitcomb, 
Capt. Samuel Baker, Cant. Samuel Nourse, and Mr. 
Joshua Johnson are the committee to prepare it ; two oi 
them, however, — Capt. Samuel Nourse and Mr. Joshua 
Johnson — do not sign it. The date is March yth. 1774 — 
a little more than a year before the battle of Lexington and 
Concord. It is quite a studied argument in justification of 
the movements and opinions of the times, in short a sort of 
forerunner of the immortal declaration, written evidently 
with painstaking, and occupies three or four pages of 
foolscap size in a small hand. To quote any considerable 
portion of it is of course out of the question. A single 
passage of a few lines will give the flavor of the whole : — 
"As to the assertions advanced (it goes on to say), that 
upon the Provincial Plan of taxation there would be ' Jmpc- 
riuiii in Imperio J a Supreme Government within a Supreme 
Government, we think is not stating the fact right ; we 
always acknowledging the authority of the British Parlia- 
ment (without being involved in them) within their just 
limits, and suppose they have full right and power (without 
us) to lav a tax of 10s. (or any other sum) on every lb. of 
tea before it goes over the capstian of any wharf in England 
for exportation, and the purchaser being there — where 
such law takes effect — must submit to it. But we humbly 
conceive there may be Inipcrium prefer Imperium, a 
government besides and distinct from another, if said gov- 
ernment respect different places and constitutions, although 
one of the same Branch (Sovereign meant) be at the head 
of both Constitutions :" — and so on and so forth much far- 
ther. As to tea's going over the capstan of a wharf in 
England or anywhere else, we suppose any seafaring per- 
son in the audience would see the difficulty and Heedless- 
ness of that operation ; but we let that pass. 

We cannot follow the local history along step by step ; 



there is too much of it. We will but state that we find 
notes like these, viz. : one that "the selectmen be impow- 
ered to collect, procure and transmit to our friends of 
this town in the army, such provision as they shall find 
necessary;'' another, that the "town approves of the 
proceedings of the selectmen in their furnishing non-com- 
missioned officers and soldiers with blankets;*' a third, 
instructing the constables " to pay the rates in their hands 
(in other words, funds from the collection of taxes), not to 
Harrison Grav, Esq., the old treasurer under the royal 
o-overnment, but to Henry Gardner, Esq., treasurer under 
the new regime. 

Time rolls on, months pass, and a little more than a year 
after the action of the town last referred to, the British 
expedition moves out from Boston, and the continuous bat- 
tle of Lexington and Concord is fought, April 19th, 1775. 
Whether anv Bolton men were in it or not, I have never 
learnt. Certain it is, no Bolton company was there. The 
late John Barnard of Dorchester, son of the Dr. Barnard 
(who as a zealous adherent of Mr. Goss and espousing the 
unpopular side in the politics of the period then and some 
time afterward figured in our annals), was then living in 
town, a bov in his father's family, born on the spot where 
my own residence now is. He died not many years ago. I 
was well acquainted with him. He once or twice men- 
tioned to me his reminiscences of that eventful day. How 
he was gathering fire-wood at the foot of a rock in a neigh- 
boring pasture, how he heard the clatter of the horse's 
hoofs, as a messenger galloped into town shouting an alarm, 
how on hearing the outcry which this occasioned, he left 
his work and rushed down into the street to ascertain the 
cause ; and that he saw much of the -arming and equipping 
and hurrying away which followed. There were other 
reminiscences of the day. The late Oliver Nourse, who 
died among us, a very old man, in 1855. father of our re- 
spected fellow-citizen, David J. Nourse, once, punningly, 



23 

told me he had one reminiscence of the day lie could not 
very easily lose sight of, viz. : that on the morning in ques- 
tion, by an accident in the wood-shed, he hurt the sight of 
one of his eves — an accident he bore the marks of as long 
as he lived. 

We are now brought down to the year 1776, the year the 
centennial of which we particularly celebrate, the year of 
the Immortal Declaration. In fair and readable, but 
not particularly handsome writing it is recorded on the town 
records. Without introduction of any sort, in the midst of 
other matters of petty concernment relating to the locality, 
on the stained and decaying page dropping to pieces with 
age, there it stands : but as impressive in its homely guise. 
as big with fate, as rich in thought, as grand in its simple 
but elegant phrase, as if inscribed in the Capitol ot the 
Nation on tablets of shining brass, or, on the field of some 
eventful struggle, on a monument towering to the skies. 
Who can read the Declaration and not feel the weight 
and solemnitv of its powerful diition, and the force with 
which it announces truths once new and startling, but 
which are now the accepted and cherished principles of all 
large and emancipated souls throughout the world. Who 
can hear it read, familiar as it is, in every school-book, and 
not be thrilled through and through with patriotic enthusi- 
asm, and stirred to new ardor for the rights of man ! 

In those davs of provincial feeling, when even the most 
daring minds scarcely ventured to contemplate so great a 
thought as that of separation from Great Britain, and an 
independent national existence for these remote colonies ; 
when so manv evervwhere — so many of the heretofore 
respected and respectable citizens of this town — shrunk in 
utter dismav before the prospect of a conflict in arms with 
the mother country, how must that declaration have 
fallen like a meteor from the skies into these quiet and 
secluded shades ! I think I can almost see the trembling 
hands and the agitated face of the transcriber as he trans- 



2 4 

fers the sentences that shine like gold, but cut like steel, 
to his books. I think I see the fathers of the town, with 
anxious gaze and "bated breath gathering round to watch 
him as he writes. (In those days it was much more a 
work of* time to do so much writing than now, and the 
copying, very possibly, took weeks for its accomplishment. ) 
The copyists, how they look over their shoulders in sus- 
picion and alarm, as if plotting some piece of outrageous 
mischief, if an}' one approaches ; how the book is closed 
in haste and trepidation if an}' stranger -comes too near ; 
how the book for many a long day afterward is hidden 
awav with extra care, and guarded with redoubled vigi- 
lance ! 

Copies of the document had been forwarded, without 
doubt (after being passed upon in Congress), to all the 
Massachusetts towns. On the books of Bolton we find the 
following record immediately following the declaration, 
signed by the names of John Hancock, president ; Charles 
Thompson, secretary. Then as follows: — "Ordered, that 
the Declaration of Independence be printed, and a copy 
sent to the ministers of each parish of even' denomination, 
and that they severally be required to read the same to 
their respective congregations as soon as divine service is 
ended in the afternoon, on the first Lord's Day after they 
shall have received it ; and after such publication thereof, 
to deliver the said Declaration to the Clerks of their 
several towns, or districts, who are hereby required to 
record the same in their respective town, or district, book, 
there to remain as a perpetual memorial." 

There it has remained, on the books of this town, a 
"perpetual memorial." until this Centennial year of grace. 
1876 ; but there it cannot much longer remain unless some- 
thing be done to make more secure its preservation. 

I find nothing mure of special interest relating to the 
events of the time excepting what has already been recited. 
The war went on, through all its varying phases, the sons 



of Bolton, like other men good and true elsewhere, shed 
their blood in it: its evils were felt here in care, distress, 
impoverishment, as in other towns : scenes of violence and 
riot were enacted, as citizens of opposing factions, with 
passions heated, met each other; till at length — the long 
and almost utterly exhausting struggle over — peace, smil- 
ing peace, was once more restored : and here, as elsewhere, 
people settled down, with all their political relations 
changed, in circumstances of uncertainty, gloom and much 
doubt to the new order of things. 

I must overleap a period of something like forty or fifty 
years. Commerce, meantime, has spread her ample wings, 
though she has not as yet developed the new and gigantic 
power which has recently come into existence. Other 
marvellous changes have been made, wonderful discoveries 
in the arts and sciences are adopted ; steam is introduced 
for travel on the land, and to a more limited extent on the 
water ; other improved methods of transportation have been 
in use some time ; the post office and the cheap postage 
svstem is thoroughly established and becomes one of our 
most important and leading institutions ; newspapers are 
become a necessity of life : the whole art of living shows 
a great advance ; in short, a new era has dawned, and 
made a considerable advance towards even its perfect day. 

Political changes, quite as great as have taken place 
among us. have occurred in other realms and nationalities. 
With us. an elective President has taken the place of an 
hereditary King. Distinctions of rank are abolished, and 
though the features of the landscape may be the same as 
thev were before, the whole order of society has been 
almost altogether reconstructed. The story has been often 
told and is familiar to us all. 1 shall not repeat it. Time 
compels to a rapid resume of some of the leading events ot 
this intervening period. The purely local ones are those 
only I shall notice, till once more we strike down for a mo- 
mentary pause, for a few words, before we close, relative to 
our recent war of iS6i-6$. 



i6 

Bolton, at the close of the war of the Revolution, was 
doubtless, relatively, more of a town than now. In common 
with other Massachusetts agricultural towns, it has under- 
gone a process of dwindling and diminution, the causes of 
which we cannot stop to explain. As yet Hudson was not, 
nor for many and many a year afterwards ; Clinton was 
not: Fitchburg, though existing as a township, was of no 
importance, but like any other of our small country towns ; 
Berlin was a part of Bolton (its south precin6t, though in 
some respects almost independent of Bolton even then); 
and Lancaster, the mother town, was much nearer on the 
same level with her daughter towns than at present. I 
might go on, but must not dwell where so much else is to 
be said. [Appendix, M]. 

It becomes discovered, as the country is explored and its 
resources developed, its capabilities more exactly ascer- 
tained, that some of the great roads to parts of this and 
contiguous states, must be laid through this region where 
we dwell. These roads are constructed, inns and taverns 
spring up all along the line ; a great inland trade in cattle, 
sheep, horses and swine, wooden ware, furniture and other 
goods is developed, and for a season, much prosperity, 
depending on this trade, is enjoyed along the route. Im- 
mediately among ourselves some new kinds of business are 
introduced, the comb manufacture from horn, the lime kiln 
at the east part, which for many years supplied all the 
neighboring region with its lime. But with the introduc- 
tion of railroads, and the opening of new lines of travel, 
nearly all this prosperity was turned away from us, and 
bestowed elsewhere. 

Meantime, too, let us not fail to notice, with the intro- 
duction of Whitney's cotton gin into the South, leading to 
such marvellous and unlooked for results, socially and 
politically, the manufacture of another kind of gin, with 
kindred fluids, becomes much extended in New England, 
and other parts of the country ; and the danger is becom- 



-7 

ing every day more imminent that this nation of freemen 
will become a nation of drunkards : and the perception of 
this danger, and the dread of it, leads to one of the great- 
est and most magnificent moral reforms the world has ever 
seen ; but, like storms in the natural world, it is accom- 
panied with terrible convulsions, and while the general 
result is far extended and deep planted good for the whole, 
the partial result is often, for individuals, suffering and loss. 

Recalling to your recollection what was said in the 
earlier part of this address relative to controversies and 
troubles which had arisen between minister and people, 
and chancres which had occurred, brought about bv the 
march of events and the great political convulsion which 
had been passed through ; let us look around us, and see 
where we are at about A. D. 1825, or a little before, or a 
little after. In 1780, Mr. Goss, the first minister, died ; 
and with him died, as a separate organization, the little body 
of his " adherents." Mr. Walley, his successor, considered 
by most the legal minister of the town, soon afterwards 
took a dismission ; and in 1782 the two divided portions 
reunited, and formed anew one church and society. Rev. 
Phineas Wright, a native of Westford. was the next minis- 
ter, remaining at his post same fifteen or twenty years, and 
after a quiet, and on the whole, prosperous service, dying 
here while still minister of the parish. Me was followed 
by Rev. Isaac Allen, from Weston, good old man, father 
indeed in the spirit if not in the ilesh. who also lived and 
died among you, remaining forty years, through a period 
which many of you freshly remember, but of which we 
cannot now pause to speak more particularly. [Appen- 
dix, N], 

We pass on to say that, about A. D. 1826 or '7, a new 
religious societv, claiming to hold more closely to the faith 
of the Fathers, was formed, under the special auspices of 
the late S. V. S. Wilder, an influential and wealthy citi- 
zen, who then, and vears before and after, lived among us. 



28 



exercising a princely hospitality, and who entertained at 
his elegant abode the beloved La Fayette when on his visit, 
about that time, to the United States. Mainly by the 
instrumentality of our fellow-citizen just referred to. a spa- 
cious and handsome church was built on the hill-side 
within his estate, near the Lancaster line, a congregation 
of goodlv size from this and neighboring towns gathered, 
and a succession of pastors settled. Customs and usages 
changing, however, with advancing time, its members, 
finding the arrangement inconvenient and dispersing into 
other congregations nearer home, the enterprise was aban- 
doned, and for several years — forsaken, dismantled, and 
appropriated to other uses — its edifice has stood, like one 
of the romantic ruins of the old world, a monument of 
that vicissitude which belongs to all things human. One 
of its respected pastors, whom many rejoice to see in our 
assemblies once more, is with us at this time, and will 
participate in the observances of the day ere they close. 
[Appendix, O]. 

In 1832 the Baptists, who for several years had been 
a growing communion in all the neighboring region, 
organized in this town : and from that day to this, their 
ministers and members have been among our respected 
and useful citizens, doing cordially their appreciated good 
work, for the temporal as well as spiritual welfare of our 
communitv. Their gem of a church adorns our principal 
thoroughfare, and their respected clergyman is chairman 
of our school committee, and is active in every enterprise 
for the public benefit. [Appendix, P] . 

As to the Friends or Quakers, their local history, it is 
believed, is coeval or nearly so with the history of the 
town. They have produced some of the best material for 
usefulness, for promoting the general welfare and that ot 
the risino- generation we have ever had, and raised tome ot 
the best scholars that have adorned our schools. 

About A. D. i860 or '6i, a Methodist societv was formed 



^9 



in town and maintained its established ministry, having for 
their clergyman a young man who seemed to have the 
hearts of his people, but who was early taken from them 
by death. Finding easy access to churches of their faith 
in neighboring towns, they did not long continue their sep- 
arate organization, but either formed ecclesiastical ties out 
of town, or dispersed into other societies of this. In short, 
one disadvantage has always attended us, this, namely, to 
form a religious connection it is just as easy to go out of 
town, in many instances easier, as it is to stay in. As 
regards the general interests of the town, the result ot this 
condition of things, as may be supposed, is far from favor- 
able. [Appendix, QJ. 

Till a very recent period, the town has never been with- 
out one or more physicians, most of whom, according to 
the ideas of their time, have been w r ell read in their pro- 
fession, worth v of the respect and esteem of the community ; 
and some of them, on account of tried and acknowledged 
skill, in demand for their services in all the region round 
about. [Appendix, R] . 

Lawyers have not locally flourished among us ; but 
Teachers have. Among them were men who, in their later 
career, adorned the bar, the pulpit, and the halls of learn- 
ing, but who, on taking their first start in the great work 
of life, wielded the ferrule or the birch, or ruled bv milder 
sway in our school-houses. A mere list of them would 
occupy a kirge space, and if made must be reserved for 
another place. [Appendix, S]. 

About A. D. 1849, one of our citizens, who by the exer- 
tions of an honest and industrious life had amassed a more 
ample competency than usually falls to the lot of farmers, 
on his death-bed left by will a large legacy to the town 
($12,000), to be used for the establishment here of a high 
grade school, where such " academic instruction " should 
be given as the voters should decide on. Thus was founded 
the "Houghton School.*' an institution which has gener- 



30 

erally prospered, which introduced a new and elevating 
influence amongst us, and which has done not a little 
towards forming the character and furnishing with their 
first mental outfit for the start in life most of the vouno-er 
portion of our citizens, male and female, who have grown, 
or are growing up, to take their place in society. [Appen- 
dix, T]. 

And at a period a -little later, viz., in 1856, a public 
Library, free to ail our inhabitants, was set on foot, and 
has continued steadily to increase since. Its healthful, 
cheering and improving influence has been felt throughout 
our commuuity, with old and young, with male and female ; 
and, as the years roll on, continues to exercise its kindlv 
effects more and more extensively. [Appendix, U], 

Thus, omitting much I would cheerfully notice were 
there time ; passing by without so much as a glance topics 
in themselves of interest and importance ; rushing over the 
rail at a rate of speed which allows hardly half a minute 
•of speech to a year of local history : the glimpses we gain 
of the landscape, as we hurry on, can neither be very 
minutely surveyed by the eye, nor deeply impressed in 
detail for the memory. But. with your permission, indul- 
gent friends, I will for a moment slacken speed, and pause 
for a while at a place in our local history, and in that also 
of our whole people, of such interest and importance that 
you would not forgive me if I passed it with barely an 
allusion. 

The war of 1861-65, how well worthy of being remem- 
bered, and its lessons deeply impressed on our souls ! As 
we have seen before, what sons of Bolton seryed in the 
.great struggle of the Revolution, in which our fathers 
engaged, we cannot tell with accuracy and precision : what 
scenes of seryice they saw, whether Bunker Hill, with 
Putnam. Prescott, and Warren : or Brandy wine, with 
La Fayette : or Rhode Island, with Rochambeau ; or 
Trenton, Princeton and Yorktown, with Washington and 



3i 

Lincoln. A list of names, a catalogue of soldiers, officers 
and men, rather sad to say, was not kept, and any omis- 
sions in that way. if ever partially remedied, can only be 
supplied through defective traditions already fading out, 
and through such papers and reminiscences of persons and 
families as may chance to be recovered. [Appendix, V], 

The record of our last grand struggle for National Life 
— for the great Ideas and Institutions which our fathers 
established — for the Deliverance of those, once Bondmen, 
but now our Fellow-Citizens — that, thanks for every noble 
and grateful thought coming from above, for benefits re- 
ceived ! — has been kept, and kept with a faithfulness worthy 
of all acknowledgment. By the pious care of both our 
national and state governments, and by the enthusiastic 
efforts of several of our most able and cultivated writers 
and thinkers, we have the most elaborate, the most careful 
and minute record of all relating to that most eventful time. 
All names, with particulars, impartially registered : every 
poor soldier's grave marked, whether in national cemetery 
or village church-yard ; his name preserved on marble tab- 
let or costlv monument in hall or public square ; his widow 
assisted, and his children not left unprovided for: all this 
and much more. 

But I come to our own more particular and local partici- 
pation in these deep memories. When the warning voice 
of the great storm was first heard ; when the mighty struggle 
was about to begin, which, before it was ended, was to 
make four million freemen out of four million slaves ; this 
little town, nestled among the hills, obscure and humble 
though it was, was not found either indifferent or asleep. 
Though no telegraph poles dot over our roads, and no 
trains roar through our valleys, our nerves, nevertheless, 
tingled as quicklv as those of any more favored community 
in the bodv politic. When the alarm was sounded in our 
modern streets, as promptly as on the eventful 19th April, 
'76, a hundred and more years ago, those summoned were 



32 

found ready j and, leaving plough and last, hammer and 
saw, took their place — yes, and manfully maintained it — 
in the serried ranks of war. 

And when the call came again and yet again, with what 
celerity and zeal it was met ! The teacher threw down. his 
books, the school-boy forsook his desk, the farmer left his 
plough a-field, the Hudson shoe-hand forgot his factory, 
and turning back on home, on wife and children, on sweet- 
heart and friends, and all that was dear, hurried to the 
fearful strife, which was to be "the last of earth" to how 
many of them yonder tablets tell. A thrice-told tale, so 
familiar in all towns, in all ears, I need not dwell on it at 
length. 

Our bays could say — each one almost with a different 
experience — "much of this I saw, and part of this I was.*' 
The Peninsular, the Seven Days Retreat : we were there 
with McClellan. The second Bull Run : we were there 
too, and some of our number never came back. Freder- 
icksburg, Chancellorville, Gettysburg : yes, we heard their 
thunders, and mingled in the thickest of their fights. 
When the bombs fell crashing into Forts Jackson and St. 
Phillip, when Farragut cut the chain, and passed up the 
river to New Orleans ; when, tied like a target to the mast, 
he run the batteries and anchored his vessels in the bay of 
Mobile, we were there : Sherman's March to the Sea saw 
us ; and when the great earthquake throes came in the 
Wilderness and around Petersburg and Richmond, with 
our brave comrades from all over the land, we were found 
readv to pour forth our blood, and yield up our lives. [Ap- 
pendix, W]. 

How much there was to signalize the great struggle, and 
make it a most interesting, as well as affecting, period in 
our annals ! I wish I had time to tell. How deeply our 
women were interested in it: how, all through the eventful 
time, they met, week after week, to sew, to knit, to cook, 
to put up hospital stores and other comforts for the dear 



absent ones, away and exposed to such hardships and 
dangers : how package after package, and box after box 
was sent by them to the Sanitary Commission, and thence 
to the front at the seat of war. I might speak of distin- 
guished citizens from abroad, like Dr. Loring, John C. 
Park, Esq., and others, who visited us during the time 
referred to, and labored among us to keep the sacred fire 
of patriotism burning brightly in our souls, and to stir up 
the minds of our young men to enter our armies ; I might 
speak too of the dedication of the tablets which now grace 
so proudly the neighboring hall. [Appendix, X]. All 
these topics, so rich in themselves, on which one would be 
inclined to dwell with how deep an interest, I merely 
glance at and leave; concluding with the statement that 
Bolton sent in all about one hundred and thirty-five men to 
the war, about a dozen of whom (and they towards the 
very last) were substitutes and hirelings, and that of her 
own sons a little more than, one-sixth never came back. 

Such is a glance, taken only here and there as at a 
building of goodly appearance and size, seen through 
enveloping mists, we have been able to take of the history 
of of our town. Like other human histories, it is not with- 
out its pages which one would wish removed ; nor without 
passages which, if fidelity to truth would allow, we would 
be glad to have expunged : but on the whole it is a worthy 
and honorable, if not a proud record: and the sons need 
not feel ashamed of the fathers, nor the daughters of the 
mothers. We are, it is true, among the small towns of the 
state, of little importance socially or politically ; but faith- 
ful history enables us to say. we have done our share of 
good work, however comparatively insignificant, and made 
our mark on the Century, though it may be but a mere 
scratch. 

Fellow-citizens and Friends, we have cast a retrospective 
glance into the affairs of our fathers : may we not, before 
we close, take another glance into the future, with regard 



34 

to our own prospe6ts? Our opportunities, are they small? 
Our position, considered either geographically, with refer- 
ence to the great centres, or in relation to trade, or climate, 
or the market — is it unfavorable? Is there anv good rea- 
son, in the nature of things and the prospects that are 
dawning upon us, why the best spirit of our times — these 
times of mental activity, of enterprise, of philanthrophv — 
should not circulate like life-blood through our veins? 
May not all that is unfriendly to good manners and morals, 
and pure religion, and to the best interests of our race, be 
gradually eliminated from our spiritual soil, as pests are 
destroyed from the crops? Why should not the year of 
Grace, 1976, see Bolton, if still an agricultural town — as 
in all human probability it doubtless will be — behold it 
also a town of which maybe said, everything healthful for 
man, and not much that is evil, grows there, as in the gar- 
den of the Lord ; a spot of this fair earth of which the 
Great Father may say : " It is abundantly watered with my 
blessing and is fruitful and beautiful?" 



APPENDIX 



For the Centennial observances, not only was the Chief 
Decorator ably assisted in ornamenting the church with 
bouquets of flowers, as well as by flags and streamers, by 
the Misses Newton ; but the town hall also was adorned by 
him in a similar manner. Messrs. Barrett, Hurlbut and 
Whitcomb — to whom the preparation of the banquet was 
assigned — assisted by their wives and other ladies, entered 
zealously into their share of the duty ; and a hearty return 
of thanks is due to them for the satisfa6tory manner in 
which it was performed. The display of lire-works in the 
evening, under the superintendence of F. E. Whitcomb, 
Esq., was appreciatinglv received ; as was also the caval- 
cade and procession of young men and school children in 
the morning. On account of its length, several pages of 
the address were omitted in the delivery, and one or two of 
them taken from the text and transferred to the appendix. 

[A. Page 2.] 

See Address in Commemoration of the Two-hundreth Anniversary of 
the Incorporation of Lancaster, Mass., by Joseph Willard (1853). 

See Bi-Centennial Discourse delivered in the Meeting-house of the 
First Parish, Lancaster, on Sunday, Feb. 20th, 1876, in Commemoration 
of the Destruction of the Town by the Indians, Feb. 21, 1670. By Rev. 
A. P. Marvin. 

A curious relic of the olden times, a " pocket-book,"' as it is called, 
found among the papers of the first clerks of the town, has been preserved. 
It contains, among other items and jottings down, the fragment of a diary 
kept by a party on the "war-path," out in pursuit (through what is now- 
New Hampshire) of a band of Indians, who are escaping with their spoils 
from some scene of violence in territory (as it is now) of this town or of 
Lancaster. The date is altogether uncertain. The figures in the left-hand 
margin refer to davs of the month. Leaves from the beginning, which 
would indicate by whom written, are missing: 



36 

9. We traveled 14 miles and camped at the nonvest corner of winipi- 
socket pond. 

10. We traveled 16 miles, and camped at the north side of Cusumpe 
pond. 

1 1 . We traveled 6 miles N by E from Cusumpe and there camped — 
and sent out scouts, and some of our scouts thought they discovered 
smoke. 

12. We sent out scouts, and they discovered nothing. 

13. We lay still and sent out scouts, and to strengthen us to go far- 
ther we sent home 29 men. 

14. We traveled 10 miles towards pigwackett, and then came upon a 
branch of Saco river, and sent out scouts. 

15. We lay still and sent out scouts and discovered nothing. 

16. We traveled 6 miles and came upon an Indian wigwam — the 
Indians being gone we left 16 men with our pack; and the rest pursued 
them till dark and stayed there all night. 

17. We followed' their track till eight o'clock next day and then we 
came back to fetch our packs, traveled the remaining part of that day and 
the night ensuing six miles. 

18. We traveled 20 miles and camped at the great pond upon Sawco 
river. 

19. We traveled 22 miles and camped at a great pond. 

20. We traveled 5 miles and came to a wigwam where the Indians had 
but latelv gone from, and then we pursued their track about 2 miles far- 
ther and' discovered their smoke and then tarried till about two o'clock at 
night and then came upon them and killed 10 Indians which was all there 
was. 

21. We traveled 6 miles. 

22. We lay still and kept scouts upon our back tracks to see if th. j re 
would any pursue. 

23. We traveled 30 miles and camped at Cocheco. 

The diary ends abruptly. How old the book is, no one can tell. 
After the minutes we have given, it is filled up with various entries of one 
sort and another, some relating to recent and private affairs. 

[B. Page 3.] 

The first newspaper in North America was set up in Boston about A. 
D. 1690. It was a small sheet of four.4to pages, one of which was blank. 
It contained a record, very poor and nieagre, of passing occurrences for- 
eign and domestic. One number only of this paper is known to be in 
existence, in the state paper office in London. It bears date Sept. 25, 1690. 

On Monday, April 24, 1704. "The Boston News Letter* 1 appeared, 
printed on a half sheet of paper, 12x8 inches, made up in two pages folio, 
with two columns on each page. It had but feeble support and limited 
circulation. After struggling along for years, in 1768 it was united with 
another paper called the "Boston Post Boy & Advertiser,*' and became 
the official organ of the government. Passing through several hands and 
becoming meantime strongly Tory in its politics, as events moved on, it 
continued to be published through the siege of Boston, till about March, 
1776, when with the termination of the siege it was discontinued, 



37 

Other papers were the "Boston Gazette,' 1 begun 1719; the "New 
England Courant," conducted by James, brother to Dr. Benj. Franklin, 
commenced in 172 1 ; the " Boston Gazette & Country Journal," published 
by Edes & (".ill, begun April. 1755. the chief organ of the Whig leaders, 
which lasted through the war. and for some years afterwards ; the " Massa- 
chusetts Spv," conducted by Isaiah Thomas at Worcester, which did not 
commence its issues till July. 1770. — Buckingham* s Reminiscences , Vol. 1. 



[C. Page 4.] 

. These statements relative to the " Bay Road '" are made not only on 

authority of the records, but also of traditions still current in the families 
of Mr. Marshal W. Houghton and his sister Mrs. Sarah S. Learned, Mr. 
Joel Sawyer, and others familiar with the localities of the region, and who 
have had access to the early papers and documents of the town. 

[D. Page 6.] 

Why an officer exercising such functions should be called a " tithing 
man "does not appear. Perhaps, originally, an officer, some of whose 
duties were the same, or similar, was collector also of tithes. Did the 
office, along with its designation, come as a Puritan institution from Old 
England ? 

[E. Page 7.] 

Boston, in 1722, less than a century from its first settlement by eight 
years, and sixteen before the incorporation of Bolton, occupied not much 
more than a half of the old peninsular ; without bridges, which were not 
built till many years afterwards, its sole connection by road with the main 
being over " the Neck," which was so narrow that the tides, when high, 
approached nearly to the road-way on either side. In population it was 
about i2,odo. It contained 11 churches, had 42 streets, 36 alleys, and 
nearly 3000 houses, about one-third of which were of brick, and the 
remainder of wood. It had been eight times swept by fires, and six times 
severely visited by small-pox, by which disease large numbers of the 
inhabitants lost their lives. 

To indicate somewhat their relative importance at the commencement 
of the war of the Revolution, we give the amount of taxes paid in to the 
government of the Province, by several of the towns, most ot them in 
Worcester county, in the year 1770: 



38 

£ s. d. 

Boston 3,083 9 3 

Roxbury, 335 ° 8 

Dedham 235 12 9 

Woodstock, then considered in Massachusetts, . . 218 o 4 

Lancaster, . • 209 7 3 

Leominster 63 9 9 

Worcester 166 2 2 

Harvard ■ 91 9 1 

Bolton, 87 1 6 

Princeton, 20 2 8 

Leicester, 8112 2 

Northborough. 45 2 4 

Fitchburg, 1 8 1 1 5 

This list of course might be greatly extended : but enough is given to 
show the important changes which have since taken place. The territory 
now Clinton, at the time indicated and for many years afterwards, was an 
obscure corner of Lancaster, with only a dozen or so of inhabitants, with 
none of its large facilities for manufacturing purposes " evolved,'' which 
have since been put to use. 

[ F. Page 9.] 
The town was named — according to tradition — after Charles Powlet, 
third Duke of Bolton, who was long a member of the council. 

[ G. Page 10.] 

In lieu of citing names of individuals from the old records, as they 
occur in connection with special action of the town, or in other ways — 
which from the quantity of the ground to be gone over, and the frequent 
occurrence of such mention would be impossible, within our limits — we 
have thought best to copy in alphabetical order, per the books, a list of 
names of the earlier settlers, with such running commentary as we can 
find space for. 

Atherton was one of those early names, and later, Amsden, Babcock, 
Ball, Baker, Bacon, Barrett (spelt also Barrott and Barrat, a once large 
and influential family that settled on Long Hill, from which descended our 
present Town Treasurer, Roswell Barrett, E?q.), Barnard, Bayley, Bige- 
low, Brooks, Bruce, Butler, Burnim, Carter, Caswell, Cooledge (Coolidge), 
Chaplin, Chase, Clark. Danforth, Davis, Divoll, Daikin, Edwards, Ellis, 
Ellinwood, Fairbanks, Farnsworth, Faulkner, Farwell. Fife (Foife, Fyfe), 
Fuller, Fosket, Foster, Fry (a once numerous family, principally among 
" the Friends" or ' ; Quakers,*' which produced some of our ablest men), 
Fletcher, Gardner (a name which did not come in with the first settlement, 
but which belonged, at a comparatively early period, to one of the most 
influential men the town has ever had, the late Stephen P.), Gates. Gibbs, 
Goss, Goddard, Greenleaf. Goodnow. Gould. Hale, Haven, Harris, Hem- 



39 

enwav, Hastings, Holder, Howe, Houghton (a numerously represented 
family in all periods of the town's history, and associated with some of our 
most valued institutions), Holman (a family which has produced individu- 
als who have exercised a most marked influence in all the affairs of the 
place, among whom Genl. Silas and his son Genl. Amory), Howard, Ja- 
cobs, Jewett, Johnson, Jones, Keyes, Knight. Kimmens, Lamed, Lawrence, 
Longley (a family which produced several highly useful citizens, among 
whom were three of our town clerks, grandfather, father and son, who held 
office successively after each other), Maynard, Marble, Meriam, MacBride 
(a name now confined pretty much to the neighboring town of Berlin), 
MacWain (a name which has also entirely disappeared here), Moore (a 
name largelv represented, in several families remotely, if at all, connected 
with each other, which has been borne by three of our town treasurers, a 
father and two sons, one of whom was C. C. Moore, Esq,, treasurer for 
more than thirty years). Newton (two or three distinct families, to one of 
which belongs Nathaniel A., Esq., our present highly respected representa- 
tive in the legislature), Nicholls, Nurse (modernized into Nourse, a once 
numerous family, divided into many sub-families, and which has left its 
impress as well as name, on all our local affairs for two or three genera- 
tions), Oaks (a name now wholly unknown here), Osborn (Osburn, a name 
years ago one of the most familiar, but now borne by but one individual), 
Pierce, Parker, Pratt, Pollard (once the name borne by many in town, 
now confined to a few), Rice, Richardson (an influential name that has 
now wholly disappeared amongst us), Reed, Russell, Ross, Robins (of 
which names the same may be said), Sawyer (a name which, frequently as 
it appears elsewhere, is getting to be comparatively infrequent here. It 
has been often a name of weight and influence, however, as well as of fre- 
quencv. The late 'Squire Joseph, Capt. John and others, who bore it, are 
represented in others, their decendants. still with us). Stearns, Sawtell, 
Stiles, Swan, Stone, are names which, as borne by members of the old 
families of the town, have disappeared, though the last mentioned is still 
heard in our every day speech, as borne by an honored representative, a 
much more recent comer. Stratton is still among us. The letter T finds 
its representatives in Tinney, Townsend, and Tombs (the first and last of 
which are no longer living names within our lines). U and V have no 
representatives, while W is the most fruitful and best represented letter in 
the alphabet. Whitcomb is the large name under that, with numerous 
representatives in this and earlier generations. There were Col. John, his 
son Jonathan, and his grandson 'Squire Edwin A., quite a prominent man 
among us, only recently deceased, and very many more. Other names 
under W : Walcott, Whitney, White, Welch, Wheeler (of which, in one 
of the families, the late Col. Caleb was the last representative), Wood- 
bury, Wood, Wetherbee. The name Wheeler among the Friends is 
represented in our influential fellow-citizens. Jesse B. and Thomas A., 
and others. 



4° 

Our list has swelled to large proportions ; and, even if incomplete, 
must be discontinued if we would have room for other topics. 

Other names, now familiar, the bearers of which are for the most part 
still living, and many of them among our most worthy citizens, are of, 
comparatively, recent introduction. Such as Bailey, or Bayley, Barker, 
Bagley, Bellows, Brigham, Campbell, Carpenter, Collins, Cunningham, 
Dow, Edes, Felton, Forbush, Oilman, Grassie, Hamilton. Harrington, 
Heywood, Hurlbut. Rollins. Robinson. Searle, Sloper, Wallace, Wallis 
(this last is represented in John S. Wallis. Esq., for some years of our board 
of Selectmen, and who represented the town in the legislature of 1861) ; 
and, probably, others we do not now recall — of persons, very likely, who 
removed years ago out of town. The Higginson family, of which Col. T. 
W. Higginson is a son, for some years owned and occupied the estate 
afterwards S. V. S. Wilder's, and where Mr. Forbush now resides. 

Until quite recently there were no persons of Irish descent in town. 
Now they are quite numerous, represented by such names as Broderick, 
Butler, Coyne or Kine, Doyle, Dugan, Haggarty, Murphy, Shauness.v, 
Sullivan, &c. 

[ H. Page 11.] 
The paragraph relative to Hoosac tunnel and the elegant station-house 
— it may be as well to state for the information of distant readers — was 
written in an ironical vein. Lancaster railroad, built to connect Hudson 
and South Lancaster, the old Pltchburg road and the Worcester & Nashua, 
between the valley of the Assabet river and that of the Nashua, and run- 
ning with a somewhat curved course through the centre of Bolton, though 
very nearly completed years ago, has never been quite finished, and used 
by the public. No buildings have been erected in connection with Lan- 
caster R. R., and consequently no structure at the place indicated in the 
address. The writer spoke rather of what should be. of what he would 
be glad to see, than of that which actually was. A note relative to this 
matter will be inserted at another place, viz. : at M. farther on. 

[I. Page 15.] 

In the early settlement of the country, and for two centuries after- 
wards, it was customary, on extending a "call" to a candidate for a 
parish, to make him an offer of so much for annual salary, and so much 
for "encouragement.* 1 or, as it came to be phrased afterwards, so much 
" for a settlement." This encouragement or settlement money was sup- 
posed to be used by the new minister in paying off old debts contracted 
for his education, in purchasing necessary books for his library, or in pro- 
curing articles of furniture for his household. 

The writer has found it difficult, with such references as he has at 
hand, to ascertain the value of pounds, shillings and pence in the provin- 



4i 

cial currency of that period, 1 7-]. r . He can only state in general it was 
very much less than that of the same denominations in English money. 

[J. Page 16.] 

All the towns of the Colonies, as afterwards in the war of the Revolu- 
tion, furnished their share of stores and funds, and their contingent of 
men, for the French and Indian wars, which broke out shortly after the 
middle of the last century was passed. This town, accordingly, bore its 
part, and contributed its quota of men to that struggle, which inaugurated 
by the ill-fated expedition and disastrous defeat of Genl. Braddock in 
Pennsylvania, culminated at last in the banishment of the French power 
from America, in the capture of the Canadas, and in the conquest of 
Montreal and Quebec. Traditions relating to that period have, however, 
pretty much died out, overshadowed by others of much greater interest 
pertaining to a later time : and the record which refers to the era of that 
war is of the most meagre description — not a line which adds anything 
either to our local or general knowledge of the events which then occurred. 
But our books are not wholly without items which significantly point to 
the period; as. for instance, the following: "Charles Holman, born in 
Concord, Feb. 24, 1727, slain in the Army at Lake George." (This — as 
appears from evidence found elsewhere — was in August. 1758, when there 
was a camp at Lake George.) 

But when, some weeks after our Centennial Celebration, search was 
made in families of the town for writings and documents relating to the 
Revolutionary period, and before, it proved, in some instances, unexpect- 
edly successful. At the house of Mr. Paul Whitcomb in a drawer of old 
papers, supposed of little or no value, was found a small 4to MSS. volume, 
bound in hog-skin, with a peculiar brass clasp, which contained, along 
with other items, the " Orderly Book" of his grandfather, Col. John Whit- 
comb, a military diary of the times of which we are speaking. We give 
in brief such little account of it and abstract from it as our space will 
allow. 

Col. John Whitcomb of Bolton — as appears from his title — was in 
command of a regiment : and. at one end of the book (several pages 
being lost out) is recorded a list of the companies comprising the regi- 
ment. The first seven companies are missing: but, beginning with the 
8th company, we have a list of the rest, officers and men, to the 18th and 
last. Then, turning the book, we have, at the other end. with many 
quirks and flourishes, in a handsome hand, the following: '"Col. John 
Whitcomb's Orderly Book. August nth, 1760. For the total Reduction 
of the Canadas ;" and from the date just given to the following, Nov. 9th, 
we have the record of the places of encampment, pass-words, and orders 
of the day, till, as we suppose, the army was disbanded, and Col. Whit- 
comb returned to his home, where we find him afterwards, serving in a 
civil capacity. 



4 2 

The army for the reduction of the Canadas, it seems, was composed 
of three divisions: ist, "the Regulars" (trained British soldiers); 2d, 
"the Provincials;" and 3d, the Indian allies. We give, as specimens, 
one or two extracts (dropping the old-fashioned spelling). The first 
entry is as follows : — 

"Camp on Lake Champlain, nth August, 1760. 

•• Parole Amherst. For the day, tomorrow, the Regulars, Major Camp- 
bell, Col. for the day. Provincials, Col. Ruggles, of : for the 

piquet, this night, Lt.'Col. Saltonstall. The reports of the Regulars to 
be made to the field officers of the Regulars. The reports of the Provin- 
cials to Col. of the Provincials, who are to make their reports to Col. 
Haviland. It is expected for the future, that the boats are kept more 
regular in their columns, and that they observe the order of rowing; two 
bateaux abreast, and that a careful lookout is kept for signals, when the 
army encamps. When the army encamps near the enemy, their tents 
must be in three lines, leaving an interval between each company. In 
case the army lands, on the passage, as few tents as possible to be brought 
on shore, as most of the men will find room to lay in their bateaux. When 
it is thought fit the army should embark, orders will be given to the Roy- 
als to beat the generate, and the assemblee half an hour afterwards. The 
other corps to take it from them, and wait in their boats until the signal 
is made for sailing." * * * * 

At date of Sept. 1, 1760, under " moving orders," is the following: 

••As the army is now going into the inhabitable part of the country, it 
is ordered that none of the inhabitants be plundered or ill used, on any 
pretence whatsoever. Whoever is detected disobeying these orders will be 
hanged. Milk, butter, provision, or anything else must be regularly paid 
for.° This to induce the inhabitants to stay in their villages : and good 
usage will prevent their men from joining the French army." 

At camp before Montreal, on Monday, Sept. 8th. 1760, we find the 
following : 

" Genl. Amherst's Orders, Parole, King George in Canada. The grena- 
diers and light infantry to parade at the grenadiers' encampment, where 
they will be joined bv a 12 pounder. Col. Haldeman will take command 
of these corps to take possession of the city of Montreal. The oldest 
ensign in the army to go in to take charge of the colours. Col. Halde- 
man will not permit any one to go in or out of town, except the guard and 
those in public offices and officers of all the departments, for the care of 
all kinds of stores. A list of names of all these will be given him. 

" The General sees with infinite pleasure the success which has crowned 
the indefatigable efforts of his Majesty's troops and faithful subjects in 
North America. The Marquis Voudrial has capitulated; the troops in 
Canada have laid down their arms, and are not to serve during this war : 
the whole countrv submits to the dominion of Great Britain. On this 
occasion the three armies are all entitled to the general thanks. And the 
General assures them that he will take the first opportunity of acquainting 
his Majesty of the zeal and bravery which has always been exerted by the 
officers and soldiers of the regular and provincial troops, and also by his 
faithful Indian allies. The General is confident, that when the troops are 
informed this country is the King's, they will not disgrace themselves by 
the least appearance of inhumanity, or by an unsoldierly behaviour in 



43 

taking any plunder, — that the Canadians, who now become British sub- 
jects, may feel the good effects of his Majesty's protection.*' 

Col. John Whitcomb, from whose orderly book the above extracts were 
taken, served, from fifteen to twenty years afterward, in the Revolutionary 
armies. His residence, when at home in Bolton, was at the East end ; 
and he was proprietor, or one of the proprietors, of the lime-kiln. From 
him it was handed down to his decendants, one of whom was 'Squire 
Edwin A. Whitcomb, the last who applied it to any use. Many years 
afterwards lime from other parts of the country could be got out at so 
much less expense, the working of the Bolton rock was discontinued. 

[K. Page 19.] 

Mr. Goss, as is mentioned in the address, was dismissed in 1771. 
Some of our readers will like to know the " conclusion of the whole mat- 
ter." After the dismission, Mr. Longley, the constable, was instructed 
(probably by advice of legal counsel) to prohibit him from going into the 
meeting-house: and "on the succeeding Lord's day by violence did pre- 
vent him from entering the desk.'' This done, Mr. Goss then said that 
"he should continue his labors in the gospel as usual, that those of his 
friends who wished to hear him might proceed to his house, that he should 
keep on preaching as heretofore." He had built and was then living in 
the house since occupied by Generals Silas and Amory Holman. After 
the dismissal, and being forbidden the use of the desk at the meeting- 
house, he held forth, Sunday after Sunday, in his own house ; a consider- 
able minority following him thither, while the major part of the old 
congregation occupied the meeting-house, and listened to the ministrations 
of the Rev. Mr. Walley. 

The manuscript from which we have derived the greater part of these 
facts, ends with this sentence : " Bolton church was the first to withstand 
the power supposed to be vested in the clergy ; thus did triumph the true 
principles of liberty in ecclesiastical affairs." 

But it was a triumph purchased with a price, and that no small one, as 
our narrative shows. The movement was altogether in advance of the 
times, and was too audacious and high-handed a measure to be passed 
over lightly and without signal marks of reprobation. Accordingly, the 
neighboring ministers, sympathizing with Mr. Goss, refused Bolton church 
members permission to come to the communion table in their churches : 
and in every way, so far as their power extended, and it was not very limi- 
ted in those days, sought to excommunicate them. The controversy, for 
its day, was a noted one, and several pamphlets, advocating the views of 
one side or the other, were published. Many of these pamphlets, we are 
told, are in the libraries both at Harvard and Yale. 

The law-suits for the recovery of Mr. Goss's salary, protracted year 
after year, lasted, carried on by his executors and heirs, till some time; 



44 

after his death. We have spoken of the handsome Latin inscription on 
his tombstone. There are some who would like to see a translation. We 
subjoin one : 

" Sacred to the memory of Rev. Thomas Goss, A. M., Pastor of the 
church among the Boltonians, who for upwards thirty-nine years, having 
exercised the sacred office, departed this life Jan. 17th, 1780, in the 63d 
year of his age. A man adorned with piety, hospitality, friendliness and 
other virtues both public and private: somewhat broken in body, but 
endowed with wonderful fortitude : he was the first among the clergy in 
these unhappy times to be greviously persecuted for boldly opposing those 
who were striving to overturn the' prosperity of the churches, and for 
herorically struggling to maintain the ecclesiastical polity which was 
handed down by our ancestors. Friends erected this monument." 

See " Sermon (text and notes) on the Termination of Fifty Years of 
his Ministry, Jan. 31, 1836,*' by Dr. Bancroft, of Worcester. 

See "The Worcester Association and its Antecedents: a History of 
Four Ministerial Association;. &c," by Dr. Allen, of Xorthborough 
(1868). 

See, also, pamphlets before referred to. 

See a MSS. Account of the Goss Difficulties, by S. S. Houghton, of 
Bolton. 

See Sabine*s Royalists of the American Revolution. 

After the death of Mr. (loss, and Mr. Walley had resigned his pulpit 
and left the place, in September, 1783, a call was extended, by the church 
and parish, to Mr. Levi Whitman (H. U.' 1779), to settle with them, "in 
the work of the gospel ministry." The call was accepted, and prepara- 
tions made for his ordination, the following churches being invited to 
constitute the council, viz, : Church in Lancaster, Rev. Mr. Harrington: 
church in Chelsea, Rev. Mr. Payson : 2d South Church in Boston, Rev. 
Mr. Everett (father of Hon. Edward Everett) : 3d church in Bridgewater, 
Rev. Mr. Angier ; 2d church in Pembroke, Rev. Mr. Hitchcock: West 
Church in Boston, Rev. Mr. Howard: church in Harvard, Rev. Mr. Gros- 
venor : church in Stow, Rev. Mr. Newell : the 2d church in Bolton (now 
Berlin), Rev. Mr. Puffer. But Mr. Whitman's health was so much im- 
paired as not to allow of his being settled, and he never became a citizen 
of the town. 

[L. Page 19.] 

In prosecuting inquiries, some weeks after the Centennial celebration, 
we learned, from several sources, that the following persons belonging to 
Bolton served during the War of the Revolution:— 

Oliver Barrett (lieutenant, and ancestor of the Barretts on Long Hill) 
was at the Concord fight : Benjamin Bailey, William Bigelow, Benjamin 
Hastings, Abraham Houghton, Jonas Houghton (afterwards major), Jona- 
than Houghton, Joseph Houghton, Carter Knight. Nathaniel Longley 



15 

(captain). Dr. Abraham Moore (surgeon), Sewell Moore. Haven Newton, 
David Nourse (captain), Benjamin Sawyer, William Sawyer, Jonas Welsh. 
John Wllitcomb (colonel). Israel Woodbury. 

Among receipts, orders for marching and for money, and other scraps 
found among the papers of Capt. David Nourse (which were kindly loaned 
ns by his grandson, 1). J. Nourse), were lists of names of men who served 
under his command. There are several of these lists — too many to he 
copied. We give as a specimen the following: — 

••The Men that 1 was called to pay money to in May, 1777 (not 
signed or dated, but in Capt. Nourse's handwriting) : Amos Meriam. 
Abijah Pratt, Joshua Johnson. David Rice. Samuel Rice, Nathan Jones. 
Isaiah Cooladge, Isaiah Bruce, Elijah Foster, Ammeziah Knight, John 
Nurse. Jonathan Nurse. John Rowers, Silas Howe. Silas Houghton, Bar- 
nabus Bayley, Samuel Stanhope. Jonathan Moore. Thomas Pollard, 
Thadeus Russell. Eleazer Johnson, Timothy Bailey, He/.ekiah Gibbs, Jr.. 
[abez Fairbank, Nathan Johnson. Benjamin Bruce, Joshua Hemenway, 
Samuel Jones, jr., James Townsend, Jonathan Meriam, David Rice. For- 
tunatus Barnes. James Kite. Jr." 

There are other lists, with other names in them, tor which see Bolton 
hooks (volume lettered " Births." page 193, ami following). The above 
list is the largest one. Anion- the collection of old papers referred to are 
some which seem to show that " bounty jumping" and procuring of sub- 
stitutes were not arts which had to be learned at a later day. Such as the 
following : — 

"Jos. How and Eliakim Atherton received £30. lawful money, for 
negro servant named York, enlisted and passed before James Barrot of 
Concord, for three years in Capt. Ashley's company in Col. Badeson's 
regiment, Continental arm) — said York to do a turn for Bolton in Conti- 
nental army. Waltham, May 2d. 1 777 ."" 

We find that this " doing a turn " for others was not of very infrequent 
occurrence. To find in what ways the " Continental'" soldiers received 
their paw take receipts like this : " For whole amount in full of our Con- 
tinental wages, mileage, money home, sauce-money, and also our prize 
money, for service in the winter campaign beginning Dec. 13th. 1770. 
ending March 26th. 1777. belonging to Capt. David Nurse's company of 
militia, in Col. Josiah Whitney's regiment, of the State of Massachusetts 
in New England," so much and so much. For these and many other 
interestim: and curious papers, we again refer as above, or to the originals. 
which ought to be deposited among the archives of soma of our public 
libraries. 

An almanac of the year 1776. in a good state of preservation, is among 
the papers we have mentioned. Its title page is as follows : " Astronomi- 
cal Diarv and Almanac for the Year of the Christian Era. 1776. By- 
Nathaniel Low, Massachusetts Bay. Printed by Isaiah Thomas, in Wor- 
cester, B. Edes in Watertown, and S. & E. Hall in Cambridge. Price 6 
coppers single, and 20 shillings the dozen." 1 It contains "An Address to 



46 

the Soldiers of the American Army," signed by Nathaniel Low, dated at 
Ipswich, Sept. 22d, 1775 ; and also "'An Account of the Commencement 
of Hostilities between Great Britain and America, in the Province of 
Massachusetts Bay: by the Rev. Mr. William Cordon, of Roxbury, in a 
letter to a Gentleman of England." The article gives a detailed account 
of the stores destroyed at Concord. 

[M. Page 26.] 

Berlin (formerly a district of Bolton) was incorporated as District of 
Berlin in March, 1784: as a town, Feb. 6th, 1812. It did not form a 
separate religious society until after the Goss troubles in Bolton. See 
Berlin Centennial Exercises, and Address of Rev. W. A. Houghton, in 
Clinton Courant for July 8th. 1876. 

Clinton, now a wealthy and flourishing town, engaged in various kinds 
of manufacture, such as carpet weaving, wire-cloth making, the gingham 
fabric, &c, was taken from Lancaster, named after DeWitt Clinton, and 
incorporated in March, 1850. It adjoins Bolton on the south-west, and is 
connected with it by good roads. After the first start, it rapidly out- 
stript Lancaster, the mother town, and other purely agricultural towns in 
its vicinity. 

Hudson, which touches Bolton on the south-east, a flourishing town, 
employing many of the Bolton people, male and female, in its factories, 
for the most part engaged in the shoe manufacture, was taken mainly from 
Marlborough, and incorporated in March, 1866. But, in the spring of 
1868, about two square miles of the most populous and best tax-paying 
portion of Bolton, was annexed to it. Till the presidential election of 
1876, the inhabitants of the annexed portion continued to vote in this 
town in State and United States elections. The town is now wholly 
within Middlesex county. Its close proximity is in most respects a great 
advantage to Bolton, in others an injury. Like Clinton, it is connected 
with this place by excellent roads. 

In the first part of the address, mention is made of the " Bay Road," 
which '-wound its slow length " over Long Hill as well as over Watto- 
quottoc, and was the principal thoroughfare to Lancaster, on the one side, 
and to the lower towns and Boston, on the other. At what time it became 
disused and a considerable portion of it discontinued, does not precisely 
appear. As the "lay of the land" was more studied, however, and engi- 
neering experience increased, it was seen to be unnecessarily winding and 
long, as well as needlessly hilly : and it was abandoned for the much more 
level, more short and convenient road which now traverses tin- middle of 
the town. That, too. in its turn, has been two or three times straightened 
in certain portions, since its first construction. 

Within the first quarter of the present century, a new road connecting 
the town with the North Village of Lancaster was constructed, and run 



47 

many years, by a corporation, as a turnpike road. For a series of years, 
it was much traveled and paid good dividends. But with the introduction 
of railroads, and the great change in the traffic through this town which 
followed, its value as a turnpike speedily dwindled, and it was thrown 
open as one of the public highways. For convenience merely, it still 
retains with many its old name of •• Lancaster turnpike.' 1 

With the springing up into importance of the new town of Clinton, 
with the construction of the Boston, Clinton & Fitchburg railroad, and 
the improvement of some of the tine farms on Wattoquottoc Hill for resi- 
dences of wealth and elegance, it was perceived that the old, narrow, 
precipitous, rocky and crooked road over that elevation, would no longer 
answer. Accordingly, about 1867. a new road was made over that hill, 
connecting by a much shorter route Bolton centre with the B. C. & F. rail- 
road station, and the village of Clinton. Said road was well engineered, 
and though it surmounts a quite lofty summit, the ascents and desents on 
both inclines are graded and easy. It is one of the most picturesque 
roads in the country, conducting through some of the most lovely scenery 
in New England, and situations for summer resorts must ultimately lie in 
much request on or near its route. S. H. Howe. Esq., has occupied one 
of the most eligible of these, for some years. Mr. Thomas S. Brackett, 
now of Still River, Mr. Daniel S. Bryant, since of California. Mr. Dwight 
Boyden. first landlord of the Tremont House in Boston, and several others 
had owned and occupied the place previously. 

In 1 80S, as appears from the papers and documents to which reference 
has two or three times been made, a Fourth of July celebration was held 
in town : the only one of which we have heard mention made, or at least 
the only one in which the whole town participated, and at which they had 
a regular " oration," in the approved canonical fashion which was form- 
erly observed. The oration was printed, and the title page reads thus : 
••An Oration delivered at Bolton. July 4th. 1808. By Abijah Bigelow, 
Counsellor at Law.*' Its motto is. " Be mindful of your ancestors, for the 
example they have left you calls for your utmost ardour." This oration 
was "published by request.'" To indicate its quality, we give one 
quotation : 

•• The preservation of a blessing requires as much care, as much wisdom, 
as great exertions as the attainment : * * * as well might we commit 
the Constitution to the flames, as to the hands of ignorant and unprinci- 
pled men." 

We avail of the opportunity furnished by this note to add several items 
which will be of interest to some of our readers. 

In 1854, or thereabouts, it was found expedient to have the old regis- 
tration records of births, marriages and deaths sorted out, arranged in 
alphabetical order, and copied. By vote of the town, the work of arrang- 



4 8 

ing and copying was accordingly done : and our books of the kind referred 
to can now be used as readily and easily as a dictionary. 

The war of 1812. with Great Britain, was very unpopular, we learn, in 
all this region. Nobody was willing to volunteer to serve in it. There 
was, however, a draft made : and the result was that Mr. Elbridge Sawyer, 
father of our esteemed fellow-citizen, Joshua Elbridge Sawyer, and the 
late Mr. Asa Houghton, were drafted, and afterwards served several 
months as soldiers in one of the forts of Boston harbor. So unused had 
our people become to anything of the kind, that the drafting caused, we 
have been told, great commotion, which did not readily subside. 

One of our most popular and useful institutions is the Farmers' Club, 
started about 25 or 30 years ago. It is now in a highly effective and pros- 
perous condition : and has done not a little in reviving an agricultural and 
horticultural interest throughout the town, and in promoting housewifery 
operations, as well as farming improvement. It has held three fairs and 
cattle shows, at which the displays of live stock, fruit, and needle-work 
altogether exceeded expectations. On these occasions, there were public 
dinners, at which addresses were made by popular speakers interested in 
agricultural affairs. By these means and others, an impulse has been 
given to all matters relating to rural economy and progress, that probably 
will not soon subside. 

Another enterprise, in a somewhat different direction, has also met 
with good success, viz. : the Fish Club, an organization formed for stock- 
ing what considerable fresh water ponds there are in town, with improved 
varieties of fish. This association has been in existence now about three 
vears, and has competently stocked Little Fond and West's Fond (the one 
a little under and the other a little over twenty acres in extent) with black 
bass. These fish in our ponds — it is said by those who have taken 
observations — have increased in numbers, are in good condition, and in 
fulness of time are expected to make a sizeable yield for the frying-pan. 

Nor have we been without our associations for mental and spiritual 
improvement. Not to mention various temperance organizations which 
have existed at different times, lyceums, debating societies — all of which 
have been fully reported elsewhere, by other ways and means — we will 
merelv record that there have been formed in town, in years past, clubs 
gathered for the express purpose of taking together publications of the 
day of one sort or another. Not one such club — to our knowledge — 
has failed in its objects, though some of them have been dissolved in 
course of time by death of members, their removal from town, and like 
causes. One such club, taking quite a number of our best magazines and 
periodicals, is now in existence, and is doing well. 

One other topic touched upon in a former note, we must return to tor 
a moment before we pass on to something else. viz. : Lancaster railroad. 
Begun in the early spring of '71, Lancaster R. R. was brought nearly to 



49 

completion in the fall of '~3- Then, owing to the alleged illegality of 
certain proceedings, it was driven into bankruptcy by .1 number of its 
creditors; and there, through the years '74- - 75-'7 n - an d thus far into 
April or May, '77, it has Iain. Certain arrangements being made and 
papers signed, and the road released from bankruptcy, it was hoped, this 
spring, our eyes would be gladdened by the renewal of work upon it. and 
by its being opened for travel and traffic. The spring is passing away, the 
summer is near at hand, and that hope is not realized. But our note M 
has alreadv far exceeded the limits intended for it. and we must pass to 
other topics. 

[N. Page 27.] 

Rev. John Walley, the second minister established in their pulpit bv 
the town, was great-grandson to Rev. Thomas Walley, one of the early 
ministers of Barnstable : and his grandfather, .Major John Walley, took 
an active part in the expedition against Canada in [690. Mr. Wallev, 
born Oct. 6. 1716. graduated at Harvard College 1754. married Elizabeth 
Appleton, but had no children: preached at Portsmouth. \. II. — not .1 . 
settled minister — in 1744: was ordained in Ipswich in Nov., 1747, and 
remained there till Feb.. 1764: after which, preached lor the French 
Huguenots in Boston, till called to settle in Bolton, in June. 1773: where 
he remained till he left early in 1783. lie died in Roxbury, March. 1784. 
His will, by which he left, "as a token oi his love to the congregation in 
Bolton." a small legacy, the income of which was to be devoted to the 
purchase of bibles — leaving a similar one to the parish at Ipswich — is 
recorded in Suffolk Registry of Probate, Filler 84. 

He was succeeded by Rev. I'hineas Wright, born in Westford, |unc. 
1747: graduated with the first honors of his class, at Harvard College, in 
1772: ordained here Oct. 3b, 1785. Rev. Dr. Cummings, of Billerica, 
preaching the sermon: married. May, 1787. Susanna, daughter of Rev. 
John Gardner, of Stow: but he. too. died without leaving any children. 
His ministry came to an abrupt termination by a paralytic stroke, in Dec. 
1802. See Allen's History of the Worcester Association. &c. 

We find on record the following: 

••At a regular meeting of the Church of Christ in Bolton, held at the 
meeting-house on the 30th of January, 1803. voted unanimously to scl 
apart a day for fasting and prayer, to humble ourselves before God, under 
the rebuke of Divine Providence in the sudden removal of our late be- 
loved pastor by death : and to supplicate the divine blessing, that in due 
time we may have an able and faithful minister of Christ, provided and set 
over us in the Ford, and that we may continue in peace and harmonv, and 
be preserved in Christian affection among ourselves." 

Rev. Nathaniel Thayer was invited to preath the sermon at the pro- 
posed fast : and Rev. Reuben Puffer of Berlin, and Rev. Stephen Bemis 
of Harvard, •• to join in the services of the day." Mrs. Wright, on the 



5° 

death of her husband, did not leave town, but lived with his successor in 
the ministry till her death. 

Rev. Isaac Allen, born in Weston. 1 77 1 -, graduated at Harvard College 
in 1798, was the successor: and was ordained here March 14th, 1804, at 
a time when there was an immense body of snow on the ground, and the 
travelling was difficult and dangerous. Rev. Dr. Kendall of Weston 
preached the sermon at his ordination. By an accidental fall on the ice. 
when a boy, he was a cripple, having ever afterwards a dislocated, and at 
times very painful, hip: and he remained always a bachelor. He was, 
however, a person of remarkably even and cheerful temperament : of lively 
wit, excelling in repartee: of sound common sense: competently, but not 
deeply, versed in the lore of his profession : and, though frugal in his 
habits, spending very little money for books or in any other way, one of 
the most kind hearted and hospitable of men. His benefactions in hum- 
ble but verv efficient ways were numerous : such as loaning money to 
young men that needed it, giving small sums to repair roads, or to extend 
schools. By these means, by his constant activity and never failing sym- 
pathy, as well as by his ministrations in the pulpit, he had here, on the 
whole, a happy ministry. He died in March, 1844, a few days over the 
fortieth anniversary of his settlement : leaving the whole of his property, 
real and personal, amounting to about $20,000, excepting one or two 
small gifts to others, to the parish "of which he had so long been 
minister." 

Mr. Allen's successors in the ministry of the First Parish were as fol- 
lows : Richard S. Edes, 15. U., 1830, Camb. Div. School 1834 (previously 
settled at Eastport, Maine), from the spring of 1843 to the winter 1848: 
John J. Putnam, of Chesterfield, N. H. (previously settled at Lebanon, 
N. H.). from Sept., '49, to June, '52, afterwards of Petersham and Bridge- 
water: Thomas T. Stone, D. D., Bowd. College 1820 (for several years 
in the Orthodox ministry at Andoverand East Machias, Maine, and in the 
Unitarian ministry at Salem), from 1852 to i860: Nathaniel O. Chaffee, 
Meadville Theo. School, ordained at Montague, and settled in Bolton 
about two years: Edwin C. L. Browne. Meadville Theo. School 1861, 
ordained at Bolton, April 1863, and remaining here about six years, after- 
wards in the ministry at Keokuk, Iowa, and at Charleston, S. C, where 
he still resides : Ezekiel Fitz Gerald. Tufts College (once of Shirley 
Village, afterwards of Chelmsford and Montague), here from two to three 
years: and lastly, Nathaniel P. Gilman. Camb. Div. School 1871 (some 
time minister at Scituate), who is the present pastor. 

[O. Page 28.] 
The Hillside Church was organized in April. 1830. with a membership 
of eighteen males, eighteen females. It was in the contemplation of the 
principal mover in this religious enterprise to bring together a congrega- 



tion from rive towns, viz, : Berlin, Bolton, Lancaster, Harvard and Stow. 
While the novelty and first enthusiasm lasted, he was entirely successful. 
The spot chosen for a church edifice was a tine one, and the octagon 
structure erected on it was a sightly, as well as a most convenient one, 
having all appliances of rooms, closets, boxes and drawers for holding 
luncheon and articles of clothing, such as were not often found in churches 
of that day. In summer and pleasant weather, the rides on the Sabbath 
to and from service, over good roads and through the lovely landscape, 
must have been delightful ; but in winter and foul weather, just the reverse. 
As stated in the address, after some years trial of the plan, and the settle- 
ment of four pastors, viz., J. W. Chickering, D. D., Mr. Peabody, Mr. 
Davenport, Henry Adams (Mr. Wilder in the meantime having sold his 
place, and retired to another state), it was abandoned. Dr. Chickering 
was afterwards for several years pastor of a church on High street, Portland, 
and Mr. Adams went into the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
in the West. 

The new Baptist church, to which reference was made, was dedicated 
in 186-, during the ministry of Rev. Kilburn Holt. The ministers of that 
society were as follows: Elder Goddard, 1832-6; Levi M. Powers, 1836: 
Isaac C. Carpenter, 1843: John Walker, 1814: P. S.Whitman, 1846; 
Asaph Meriam, 1868: W. K. Davey. B. L\, 1856: J. H. Giles, from 
England, 1S5S; J. H. Learned, i860; Kilburn Holt, Colby University 
1863: Joseph Barber, 1868: Benj. A. Edwards, B. U., the present min- 
ister. 

[ P. Page 28.] 

The Friends of this locality reside for the most part, in the towns of 
Bolton and Berlin, forming to a certain extent a community by themselves ; 
but they by no means isolate themselves from their fellow-citizens of the 
town or state. They take as great an interest in general public measures 
as do others ; and some of their members are, and have been in former 
times, among the most active and leading men in town meetings. 

The Bolton society — previously organized before then, as it appears, 
as a •• Preparative Meeting," containing twenty-two families and about one 
hundred and thirty members, and " having a meeting-house and school- 
house near it" — was erected, we gather from their records — into a 
••Monthly Meeting" in April. 1799. Their first acknowledged ministers 
were Thomas Holder. Sarah Holder, Thomas Watson, and Abel Hough- 
ton; their elders, John Frye, Lyclia Gates. Others, male and female, too 
many for mention, from that day down to this. 

[ <). Page 29.] 
The members of the Methodist society commenced their meetings, 
assembling at the town hall in Bolton, about 1859-60. They had full at- 



52 

tendance, but their paying members were few. Warr.en C. Brown, a 
voung man of promise, was their minister, and the spirit prevailing was 
excellent. Mr. Brown, however, sickening and dying of pulmonary con- 
sumption, after a residence here of about two years, the society disbanded, 
and is now scattered into other societies of this or other towns. 

[ K. Page 29.] 

The physicians, who have made Bolton their home, and practised here, 
were — so far as can now he recalled — Dr. John Barnard, at about the 
period of the Revolution : Dr. Abraham Moore, who served in the Revo- 
lutionary armies ; Dr. Levi Sawyer: Dr. Amos Barker: Dr. Leonard, 
since of Last Boston : Dr. Hall Davis, who served during the late war, 
first as "contract surgeon," afterwards as surgeon in 38th U. S. colored 
troops: Dr. Winsor H. Bigelow, who also served as assistant surgeon in 
the 32c! Massachusetts, being present at Antietam and Fredericsburg ; 
Dr. Ambrose Lames, who was private in a Massachusetts regiment during 
the war, but came here as a practioner two or three Years afterwards, on 
decease of Dr. Bigelow. There were other physicians, we believe, who 
resided here for a time, but their stay here was so short that no trace of 
them was left on our books. 

[ S. Page 29.] 

The town, throughout its whole history, has been highly fortunate in 
the teachers it has had. To say nothing of those from among its own 
citizens, who have met with as good success as any, such as the Fryes, the 
late Thomas, his sons John L.. Thomas L. and his daughter Mary Ann: 
the Barretts, the Holmans. the Jewetts. the Sawyers, and among ladies 
the Misses Barnard. Brigham, Newton, Nourse, Parker, Osborne. Sawyer, 
Whitcomb, and many more, of whom it was impossible to keep record : we 
may mention, among those who tried their "'prentice hand"' in our 
schools, two presidents of Harvard, the late Jared Sparks and the late C. 
C. Felton : ami others afterwards distinguished as educationists, or in pro- 
fessional life, such as George B. Emerson, afterwards head of a school for 
young ladies, the best perhaps Boston has ever had ; 'Squire Wood, a 
well known lawyer and politician, late of Fitchburg; Rev. Nathaniel 
Whitman; Rev. Nathaniel Gage; Judge Henry Chapin of Worcester: 
John A. Goodwin of Lowell, a few years ago Speaker of the House — a 
list that might he extended, hut we remember what else remains to he 
said, and forbear. 

, Our list of Houghton School teachers, however, which has been care- 
fully kept, we will copy, as it is one which man,' will like to preserve for 
reference. Those marked thus * deceased: 



53 

Edward B. Chamberlin, Univ. Vermont, afterwards clergyman. 
Henry F. Munroe, H. U., afterwards teacher in Hingham, and at 

the West. 
Moses Burbank, VVaterville Col . . afterwards superintendent of schools 

in Vermont. 
Geo. W. Chamberlin, Univ. Ver., lawyer, subsequently, in one of 

the Western states. 
Phineas Allen. II. U., a teacher the most of his lite. 
John M. Rice, Bridgewater Norm. School and B. S. Harv. Scientific 

School, professor afterwards at U. S. Naval Acad, at Annapolis. 
Warren T. Copeland, Bridgewater Normal School, a professional 

teacher. 
William II. Swift, Williams College, teacher afterwards in Pittsfield. 
Henry Stone. Bowd. Col., clergyman, during war confidential clerk 

on staff of late Major Gen. Thomas, and now in office of the 

Railroad Gazette, New York city. 
10. David Bentley, Bridgewater Norm. School, professional teacher. 
ii. Thomas Sherwin, Jr., H. I'., during war adjutant and then colonel 

of Mass. 22d. During his administration the war broke out. ami 

he and several of his scholars enlisted. Now Collector of city 

of Boston. 
Henry S. Nourse, H. U., afterwards adjutant in the war and com- 
missar} of musters in L'. S. Vols. 
Minot G. Gage. H. U., afterwards clergyman at Nashua. N. H., anil 

Gloucester, Cape Ann. 
Frederick L. Hosmer, II. I'., since clergyman at Northboro'. and 

Ouincy, 111. 
Edwin T. Home. H. I'., since teacher in Boston (Dorchester Dist.). 
Stephen W. Clarke. Dart. Cob, since teacher in Portsmouth. N. H. 
*Henry L. Colby. Dart. Cob, died soon after leaving town. 
* Addison Gilbert Smith, H. Lb, professional teacher. 
Sidney A. Phillips, Dart. Cob, now lawyer at South Framingham. 
Geo. L. Chandler. Bowd. Cob. since tutor in Bowd. College. 
Edwin R. Coburn, Dart. Cob, now law-student in Boston. 
Theodore C. Gleason, H. I'., since clergyman. 
Samuel W. Dollinger, since teacher and law-student. 
David A. Anderson, Dart. Cob. has continued a teacher. 
Alfred Newell Fuller. H. U., since clergyman. 
James Frank Savage, Dart. Cob. since law-student. 
Albert Gray, Bowd. Cob. now teacher at Northboro'. 
Frederic S. Cutter. H. Lb. teacher at date. 



[T. Page 30.] 

Joseph Houghton, who lived where his son. Quincy A. Houghton, is 
now living, and who died Nov. 7th, 1 S47, having bequeathed to the town 
of Bolton $12, 000 to establish a school "to be kept near the centre of 
said Bolton, in which such ACADEMICAL INSTRUCTION shall be given as 
-aid town shall decide to be most useful.'* and also "eights' rods of land." 
(described) on which to build a school-house: and the town having ac- 
cepted the legacy, and built the school-house as required to do ; — a school 
of the character above indicated, and named after its founder Houghton 
School, went into operation in October, 1849 — first in the town hall. 



54 

and. shortly afterwards, when the building was ready, and certain ques- 
tions temporarily disposed of, in the school-house itself. From a journal 
kept by the teacher and scholars (still extant and portions of it copied 
into the School Records), it appears that twenty-five scholars, whose 
names are given, were at the first session, which number was soon added 
to. and the whole new undertaking was started off witli much enthusiasm, 
and every assurance of success, which expectations were largely realized. 
There was one unhappy drawback, however. Nine families, named, with 
their descendants, were excluded, for a century, by the provisions of the 
testator's will from attending the school. This kept out several very prom- 
ising scholars then living, whose fathers had been taxed for building the 
school-house: and would, moreover, produce a condition of things threat- 
ening consequences in the corning time much to be deprecated. By an 
amicable arrangement, the difficulty was adjusted, and the question of the 
exclusion of the nine families carried before the Supreme Court. That tri- 
bunal, after maturely considering the whole matter, hearing the arguments 
ot counsel. &c. &c. decided that the exclusive clauses of the will could not 
he maintained, and accordingly set them aside, thus opening the school, 
as a free school, without invidious distinctions, to ;*11 properly qualified 
scholars, children of ••inhabitants''' of the town. Thus commencing, the 
school has continued to flourish till this time, and its benefits have been 
enjoyed by a large number of our younger citizens. See Cushing's Re- 
ports, volume 8th, page nth, Xourse vs. Memam, See also full extracts 
from the will relating to the school. Bolton School Records, page 9th. 

[U. Page 30.] 
Before the question of establishing a Free Public Library was 
brought up in town meeting, it had been discussed in private circles for 
months: and when it was formally introduced for action by the town, it 
found most voters fully prepared for it. and favorably disposed towards it. 
To Air. Henry Jewett, then one of our citizens, but since of Lexington, he- 
longs the credit of introducing the question before the town. " in town 
meeting assembled." Movement to the effect contemplated at once began : 
a library was started without delay, and has continued to increase in num- 
ber of books and in efficiency to this time. It has manv users, and has 
proved a means of improvement and happiness of the highest order. 

. [V. Page 31.] 
Lists of those who served in the last war. or that of 1861-65 — town, 
state and national lists — have been kept in various forms: and those in 
future generations making inquiries as to who served, and when and where, 
and from what places, will be at no difficult}' to find out. Ever) town in 
the state was required by law to keep its own proper record of volunteen 
enlisted to its credit, and a book for the purpose was furnished by state 



03 

authority. In addition, al the Adjutant General's office, the roster of 
every regiment in the state service was copied, as man}- interesting partic- 
ulars added as could be, the whole with immense labor made as complete 
as possible, and then printed in two thick 8 vo volumes. 'These books 
were sent to all the towns, and given the largest circulation. Not to be 
outdone, the General Government, while the war was still going on. not 
only established National Cemeteries for interring the bodies of the fallen, 
luit has since published in several volumes, under the general title ot 
"ROLLS OF HOXOR," detailed Catalogues of the names of all soldiers 
whose bodies are known to be buried in any ot the cemeteries aforesaid, 
and along with these to give all the information practicable respecting the 
numerous graves of •■unknown" there to be found. Hereafter, even 
centuries hence, whoever is looking up facts and dates relating to our 
recent war will be at no loss where to find them. 

[W. Page 32.] 

Those who >er\ed during the war. to the credit of the town ot Bolton, 
were as follows (the names under each heading being arranged in alpha- 
betical order). The names of those who died during the war. and which 
are on the tablets in the town hall, are printed in italics: 

13th Regiment, in which were those who first went out. — Ezekiel W. 
Choate. Ledra A. Cooledge. Silas A. Cooledge. *Samuel M. Haynes. 
Edward A. Houghton. Francis M. Kimmens, Charles McQuillan, Enoch 
C. Pierce, sergeant. William A. Newhall, Rolla Nicholas, Henry Whit- 
comb, captain, John Thos. Whittier, orderly sergeant. [*Subsequcntly, 
soldier from Berlin.] 

2d Regiment. — Henry Learned. 

15th Regiment. — John Fahee, Thomas Hastings, Nelson Pratt. Thos. 
Sherwin. Jr. (captain of a company, but company disbanded he went into 
22(1 as adjutant : teacher of Houghton School on breaking out of war). 
John S. Williams, afterwards in 4th cavalry: John Wood. 

1 6th Regiment. — George A. Barnes. Albert C. Houghton, Oliver L. 
Nourse. sergeant. 

19th Regiment. — William Stone, major. 

20th Regiment. — Thomas Whitman. 

2 1st Regiment. — Willard A. Bowers, George E. Burgess. Charles R. 
Haven. James Kennedy. Luke Ollis (claimed and held by Lancaster, his 
name on Lancaster tablet). 

22(1 Regiment. — George />'. Cook, Charles .1. Fry, Joseph S. Hildreth, 
Rufus IT. Williams (claimed and held by Berlin, name on Berlin tablets). 

23d Regiment. — Amos B. Jarvis. 

32(1 Regiment. — Windsor PL Bigelow, assistant surgeon. 

33d Regiment. — Edward L. lutes. 

36th Regiment. — Henry H. Barllett. Theodore II. Bartlett, Edwin 
Barnes. Hiram P. Beane, Reuben Clapp, l-izra Crocker, Franklin Far/is- 
ivorth, Andrew J. Houghton. Josiah Houghton, Walter Kennedy, fohn 
Lake, George H. Patrick. Ceorge E. Sawyer, tjuseph H. Sawyer, orderly 



sergeant, George H. Thomas, Asahel C. Wetherbee, Henry M. Wether- 
bee, Reuben L. Wetherbee, George S. Willis. Elijah H. Woodbury. 
[fDied a year or two after the war ended.] 

38th Regiment. — George H. Stone. 

47th Regiment. — Burgess Taylor. 

57th Regiment. — James J. McVey, George Willis. 

5th Regiment, Co. I (Nine Months Men). — "'Edmund B. Babcock. F. 
R. Bennett, \George A. Corser, James F. Despeau. Lyman Gibbs. Wm. 
Gibbs, JAmory S. Haynes, James D. Hurlbut, James jillson. William H. 
Larabee, Charles B. Newton, captain, *Francis M. Newton, Andrew L. 
Nourse, William D. Pierce, ^Andrew A. Powers, lieutenant. JJohn H. 
Sawver, sergeant, Isaac C. Stratton. Augustus H. Trowbridge. Charles 
H. White, Henry Wood, Henry A. Woodbury. [*Reenlisted in 4th Cav., 
sergeants. fReenlisted in 2d Heavy Artillery. JReenlisted in Hundred 
Days Men.] 

5th Regiment, Co. I (Hundred Days Men). — Additional names, Jos- 
eph A. Bryant, Lyman B. Gates, Christopher C. M. Newton. Amos P. 
Powers, Stephen F. Smith. 

Nim's Battery. — Francis Murphy. 

First Heavy Artillery. — Edwin J. Brown, Charles F. Getchell. Edwin 
Kilburn Holt. Baldwin Houghton, Warren Houghton. Stephen If. Hunt- 
ing. Charles W. Nourse. George W. Pratt, Eugene Smith. Francis H. 
Whitcomb, William W. Wheeler. 

Second Heavy Artillery. — Abel James Collins. Edward F. Houghton, 
Charles B. Newton. George E. Sargent. Charles G. Wheeler. 

Third Cavalry, McGee"s. — Francis E. Howard. 

Fourth Cavalry. — Besides names already mentioned. Waldo E. Kim- 
mens, Joseph L. Marston, Aimer M. Nutting. William L. Osgood. 

Fifth Cavalry. — Thornton Hayden, colored. 

Fifth Cavalry, regular U. S. A. — John 15. Stanley. 

Signal Service. — George Edwin Woodbury, previously in First Cavalry, 
for Leominster. 

Provisional Guards. — Ira A. Dutton. 

Thomas Grassie. chaplain, with 108th N. Y. Volunteers; Reuben M. 
Whitcomb and Charles A. Wheelock. suttlers, with the 36th : Hall Davis, 
surgeon, 38th U. S. colored troops, Ambrose Fames. 51st Regt., both 
physicians in Bolton after the war : Mary Eli/.. Haynes. nurse in hospitals. 

Regular U. S. Navy, — Robert T. Edes, assistant surgeon in Farragut's 
fleet at New Orleans, in the flag ship " Black Hawk," Com. Porter, on the 
Mississippi, and passed assistant surgeon on the "Colorado:" John 
Henrv Hapgood, seaman, in the " North Carolina." the " Potomac." and 
the gunboat " Union." 

Volunteer Navy. — Henry Rockwood. assistant surgeon with Farragut's 
fleet at Mobile, in the " Itasca," the " Monongahela." and the " Poca- 
hontas." After the war, physician in Bolton. 

N. B. — John C. Haynes. 36th: Luke Ollis. 21st: claimed by Lancas- 
ter, and their names on Lancaster tablet. Charles Wood, Jr., claimed by 
Harvard. Several now citizens of Bolton served as soldiers in the quotas 
of other towns. 



I V Page 33.] 

The memorial tablets erected in the town hall to the memory of <i< 
(I soldiers were dedicated on the evening of Dec. 20th, 1 866, with 
appropriate observances. Solomon II. Howe, Esq., was President ol the 
evening. Prayer was offered by Thomas 'I'. Stone D. D. Biographical 
Notices read bv R. S. Edes. An Oration delivered by Dr. Geo. B. Lot 
in-. A Poem, written by Amos W. Collins, was read by Addison G. 
Smith, teacher of the Houghton School. Suitable music, including the 
singing of an original ode by Mrs. Mary 1). Whitney of Boston, was per- 
formed by the Hudson hand, and by a sele< t < hoir under the direi tion oi 
II. F. Haynes. 

See pamphlet, ••((ration delivered at Bolton, Mass.. Dec. 20th, 1 
at the Dedication of the Tablets."' &C. : 1867, published from the ot'li< e ol 
the ( linton Courant. 

\. 13. — To the names of "recent introduction," under note G, add 
the following: Blood, Bowers, Cook. Graves, Larkin, Powers. Rich, 
Sampson. A Blood family in the earlier history of the town: but no 
member of it has resided here for many years. 

That no errors or important omissions have crept into 
the foregoing appendix, is hardly to be expected. It is 
hoped they arc not numerous. Indulgent readers are 
begged kindly to excuse them, as these sheets were revised 
under circumstances rendering a careful scrutiny very 
difficult. 



<ia:xr 



d C: 
d ^ 
d d 

d_C 

teg 



•cc_d_ 



■' cd d^cc ' 

1 >CC 

die d 'CC: 



*"" d. ? 
:d <d 

zccc . <c- 

Itccc: d 

cscccc ._ ^ 

cccc <c 

<OCCcC CC 
CSdCC d 
<3LCjCC_C Cj 



X ^ ' 



.<__j 

d C\c 



cdd, 

C<C d 

cc d 

~cc c 



tC C 

cc c: 



d##fef PPfe^ 
-fed £^c^c 

- ■ * c; d_ ■ . d C- d £? ■ v 

c d <d.; d :' ^ c v ^ ft > 

- C±<__ * d- d; <^\ ' 

d dfd ddCl 

- d dd < dd 

d^ d< d-' d<L d ' «-v-' .<= 

r: dd •■. d <c 
r c c cl_ . d . 

:;<!__ dd dd S- 

CL-<lC*dC d d, 

■e «d <Cd«K ■'. *G- d: d£- 

-\«f <r ■ c c •■.«!-: * ^ , ■ ^ ■ c c__ 



OnOCCcCi 

<gg3rc:*c d- 

sSCi<d?S 

'-~sc<cx 



<5 d- o 

c&d 



. «c<v<! <i- 
cc ,•« < C. 

e£% ■£ CI 
ex «rCL'-, 
«:- ; = d ' 

cc :<d 

c; <d '. 



d«^c 

dc C 

Cstcd: 
«3s; < c_ 
dJ-C 

cj: «c 
d < 

<z cc: 

d c 

c c 

c; c 



m 

d d 
Cd 



< d • 

c c 

o c 

<c< c 

r c 

<c < c 

C C. 

e . c 
> <£'•-■ 01 
- <££ C: 

C c, c 



C d $ 



tl cc 
<rd 



rcc 
'.CCcC 

- Ctj d 

- CC *^ 

2T;<.C 

, <Jll^c- <__ 
d-c d 

O - 

d :r ~- c - 
d^C Ti 

•d:C d c < 

^fccc;d •» 
dec d, cf 

d<: ' 



d<X- Si 

drc^d 

d^.<^ 

CCC 

CfC 

ded 

■ dc " 

Ciiv ' 

d 

O ■ 
CC * 



": d^ 
' dl cc 

" dec 
".. lCSZLCC. 
- . ocr <t <r. 

C-cc 

■ od Cd 

di: c_c* 

i <_7. • c- c: 
d cc 



:C . <c . 
<r c 

C- c 



tCc d 
£.CC d 

": ct 

2cC: 
_CC 

C(( <L 
d-CC: 

dec. 

1 "'".c C . 
^ c d<- . ' 

^:> cc< 

dc <3- 
d c :d. 

<!«£- 

C>^ 

;:. ' d*^ <^ 
-c dc 

^■■'Cc 

c c_ cr 



dd 
•c d 

d-^ 
C d 

if 



C c ' C 

d. c c 

C?:' C- C 

c c_ c 

c c. c 

<L c <: 

C_; C" • < 

CC C < 



c<s c o 

__ ctcr c c^: < 
-ii ^<c c: c<c « 

ci_ c: c^ . c 

C' '■<£* < <:<:<: 

c cc cc 
< c c< 

fe c. c« 

J c ccc 

; - <r CK'/CC-CC 
_• «« CC'C C' 

• o- ede 

<■■«■. <c c c 
c cc. decee 
<s; cr: c :oer 

' CCCC CCC 

" <«. <d<dc_""-^ 
_■" <ac<ic:. c._ 
cc c: 

\< <cr_ac c cc 

. <5C <d C_«C 
C <d < 

d. <d ^ 

<c «c 

C- -C «C1\ . 

C? <ad C^'^, 
" CC <SC d«S 

"ccc ^17 d*rc. 
; ccc <sc <:■<£.' 

1. • cc «_G 
- cc cd d-d 
: <? -sc^ <_^ 

1C cc.-«d 
Cj r CC «C 
d C •<ed • 

■ d C 4d 

■*: <•: ^^'. 

^ c. «sr"' 
r c *sC^ 



dd« s* 

C_ d « C 

dec c 

d c* i 



re «e s 



t. co«. <s 



cc cc <c_ 

Cc <d 

cc c 

cc <£L 

: c c «c 
; cc c: 
c <S <r 

r < C «J <^ 

c ■ c cc «" 

rc C^r 



• C< v <C_ 
■ C <JT 



ccC 
XCCT 
< c <: <gc c: 
etc: c exc 
c^ccc« : c 
00*. dece 
eg c ' 



< C c 

CO c 
CCC 
Ct e 

cc d 



cccc 

c ccc 



E CCC 

C ccd 

., K '.OL7C 

c ccd, 
c ccc 

CCC^ 



cg< d 

card 

dec 

di e d 



cr "c< 
C2 c 

' • -ci c 

CCCC 

dec cr <s 

ice fc C 

die d <r <cc 

«dCC — 

c c c 

dec 
c: c c 



E3S£ «C 

do. d 

dc«" d._ 
Ct'c C 
dec C 

Cx&c 
■ CCC c 
Cfi « 

core 

c^C 

cc< ■ c 
<'.- . cxt<r 

cscd 

e ; ■ Cccer 
<£<::«c 

Ccd: 
d d ' 

& dC 
d d 

CC' c 

<&C- 

. «CcC_ 

■<sac ; : 
"■■ c*c; 
c c • 

r ccc 

CcC 

c « «c 

Zl ccc 

c. c<c 

' <rc 

~ <C 

cc: 



CJC «g 






<c d 



" ..< C < ' 

•< c 

<^c 

4C c C 

«CT^'c c c ■ 

^S?:'-« c-5 

- «C- ■ « ■ t-i < 
'«C~ ; »»- cc 



c» c 

d«'c. 

c c: 
CG' « 

oC <L 

<;c 



<£C pied 
ccc ^c 

CCC : O^'C 

ceC *^Cd. 

etc ■ <^S? 

CC ■ c«c 

cc C^'^dL. 

cc- c3<^* 

CC CcSCvC^^. 

cc ccecC 

CC Cj«CCdl 
cc". Ccsccd 

CC dCCCC<E7 
f * CTCCc C d. 

: dec/- d. 

c <rc<cd 

r '.CC'(C~Cs 

ddec <r 

CC^'.Cvd 

.die*, ffi-d: 

c;ctc <^ 



c cccicc- 

r . ccCC ! • 
ccx<C*£ 
r c mE, re: 

< CfCC 

(•ccc* 
Ccf^CL.CC 

c c; ccr *e 



cCcC c 
CC CCc ,- 

cCcc <cr 

CCCC <^C 

cd_CCC.-C:, 



CCC 
CCC 
CCC 

<:cc 
CCC 

etc 

Cc c : 

dcc:~ 

ccc... 

<lc c 

d4- d 

*Sc_ c 

<&«-- '--. 

<4C d 
<EC C: 

CCC,. C 
c& - 



1 C^ CC£" d 
- C d£.C d 

c-c c dcc^'C 

«; < die <: <£ 

<-c c dccc c: 
<cr c .<st c <r_ 

< C C«5.X' ^r 

m C -d^:c.:.<C 



cc CCT '-i c cccc c 

«d"c" c.«cx c <sx:c <3 
cdicc ci*k£^ < c: ^^c d ■■ 

<dd <r«^i'. ,! - scc;c <- 

^Ctcl'C'^p/d^- 

TCI c -^ 5¥^ S- ^ 



d d"C? - 

d: d d Cd crcccc 

d d CI dCddcx; 



' c ^tes 



c c 

^d:*c. 
c c 



d C d 

<Td<5 



cc ccrcc 
d.< C€cc 
d« d ccc 



1: Cs CdcC 

•C-.53: d dec •■•'. 

d c^ d dc CCC 
^ <z d cc cc 

cccc^cc 

S---CJ CCCCCC 
C C d Co <cc 



^»d Cd 
dCC 

d d 

««d dd 



4C' c. 

Cl.C£< < 

c.<^l c: 



Jc ccc? 

C dCC33S 

: cccc< 
:. cc c: c 



^e 



C d CC' :d :.c 
c CCCttd <: 



CC C 

C_C C 



d c c 
<r c c 

<z.c c 

ddC 



<<L.C 
:<d.o 

•<3C7CC 



c c 
c c 
c c 

' C c - 
c c 
c. .c. 

d ■ c 
d < 

'd »c<:' 
f-CT c 
■ <. «c, 

- ■ C i* ' 

< C«d c 

c c 

c c 

C d <c 

C t . 



<dC d 

c^d d 

«acc 
ccc ■■■ 
<cc:c d 



tec 

cede 



cccc. 
cccc 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 077 183 1 f 




